
C JaJJU 



SERMONS 



BY 



RICHARD FULLER, 

PREACHED DURING HIS MINISTRY WITH THE 

SEVENTH AND EUTAW PLACE BAPTIST CHURCHES, 

BALTIMORE, 1847—1876. 

PBEPJLMJEl) BY BI3ISJEZF. 



"Quisquis heec legit, tifoi pariter, certus est, pergat mecum ; ubi pariter 
haesitat, quaerat mecum ; ubi errorem suum cognoscit, redeat ad me ; 
ubi meum, revoeet me."— St. Augustine, de Trin. i. 5. 



SECOND SERIES. 




PUBLISHED BY JOHN F. WEISHAMPEL, JR. 

PHILADELPHIA: AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 

NEW YORK : SHELDON AND COMPANY. 

[Copyright, 1877.] 










*- 



> 



]pR£fACE. 



[From the First Series.]- 



The following Sermons are published in accordance with the 
dying request of their lamented author. Several years before his 
decease, Dr. Fuller prepared them for publication with especial 
care. Correcting his original notes, they were then placed in the 
hands of a friend to be copied. The copy was subsequently re- 
vised ; and so thoroughly was the work done that when the man- 
uscripts were opened, they were found to be in complete readiness 
for the press. 

.Posthumous discourses of eminent ministers are often given to 
the world. But these are generally selected by surviving friends 
from such imperfect materials as may be accessible. In this case 
we have those which the author himself designated for publica- 
tion, and which received his final review. It is quite unusual 
for Pastors, amid the demands of their engrossing work, to pre- 
pare discourses to be read after they have ceased to speak. That 
two such volumes as are now presented to the public should be 
furnished by Dr. Fuller, is a witness both to his industry and his 
zeal in the service of Jesus. 

It is probable that these Sermons are published nearly as they 
were delivered. It was the author's habit in preaching to have 
every important thought carefully premeditated. Not unfre- 
quently he employed the very words which had been pre- 
arranged. Many will recognize in these glowing pages ex- 
pressions often heard from the living voice. The language 
will serve to recall the tone, the features, the very gesture of 
the beloved speaker, though the eloquent tongue is silent ; and im- 
pressions, partially effaced by time, will be revived. Others, who 



^ONTEJlTg. 



PAGE. 

I. Predestination 7 

II. Danger to the Soul from Lawful Things 32 

III. The Kingdom of God cometh not with Observation . . 49 

IV". Jesus and the Three Disciples in Gethsemane 68 

V. The Law and the Gospel.. 89 

VI. The True Christian 112 

VII. The Judgment 130 

VEIL The Judgment 142 

IX. Former Days 155 

X. Dispositions under National Judgments 171 

XI. A City or House Divided against Itself. 196 

XII. Strength as our Day 214 

XIII. The Gospel Stifled by Covetousness 235 

XIV. Mortification of Sin 251 

XV. Fellowship in Christ's Sufferings 269 

XVI. Elijah's Faith and Defect 290 

XVII. Lord, to whom shall we go ? 310 

XVIII. A Precious Saviour 330 



Strmott -(First 



PREDESTINATION. 

"And now I exhort you to be of good cheer; for there shall be no 
loss of any man's life among- you but of the ship. For there stood by 
me this nig-ht the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, saying, 
Fear not Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar ; and lo, God hath 
given thee all them that sail with thee. And as the shipmen were 
about to flee out of the ship when they had let down the boat into the 
sea, under color as though they would have cast anchors out of the 
foreship, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these 
abide in the ship ye cannot be saved.— Acts xxvii : 22, 23, 24, 30, 31. 

IT was Mr. Pitt, I believe, who, after reading Butler's 
Analogy, remarked that " it suggested more doubts 
than it answered." In removing one difficulty, we ought 
to be careful lest we create others which are greater. — 
However, in speaking of the deep things of God, all we 
can do is to shew how far the human understanding can 
go, when it ceases to obey reason, and debases itself to 
mere scholastic logic. 

You are all familiar with the narrative of Paul's ship- 
wreck. In spite of some plausible objections, it is certain 
almost to demonstration that the vessel was lost upon the 
island now known as Malta. The whole description is 
very graphic; the impending danger; the commanding 
attitude of the Apostle during that fearful night; his in- 
spiring address as the dim morning light reveals the ter- 
rified haggard company — two hundred and seventy-six 
in all — shivering on the deck of the sinking ship; the 
effect of his exhortation ; and the rescue of all on board. 

As you read the account, you feel that, if the sailors 

believed Paul's declaration as to a revelation from heaven, 

it would put fresh heart in them to work, as it really did. 

Nor does it strike you that there is anv contradiction be- 

ii 1 



Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



tween this positive assurance of safety to all and Ihe sub- 
sequent warning as to the impossibility of saving the pas- 
sengers unless the crew remained in the stranded bark. 

Our philosophers, however, are astonished at your sim- 
plicity, and, of course, at the simplicity of the Apostle 
and the inspired historian. For if God had determined 
that all should reach the land in safety, how could it be 
affirmed that in any case some would be lost ? 

The Roman centurion had, I dare say, quite as much 
sagacity as these cavillers, yet he urged no objection, but 
at once complied with Paul's counsels. And just so now. 
When in earnest, no man ever pretends that predestina- 
tion has anything to do w T ith his free agency. No farmer 
— though in theology the most fierce hyper-Calvinist — 
was ever heard of, foolish enough to neglect the cultiva- 
tion of his fields, because nothing can be left to contin- 
gencies, and, therefore, it is predetermined w T hether he 
shall reap a harvest or not. In a shipwreck no fatalist 
ever folded his arms, saying, "If I am to perish, I will 
perish ; if I am to be saved, I will be saved." When dan- 
ger presses, the peasant and the philosopher alike cry to 
God for deliverance, and put forth all their efforts. It is 
only in idle speculations, or when seeking to lull their 
consciences in impenitence and disobedience, that the 
enemies of God insult him, by pleading his decrees as a 
pretext for their indolence and passions. 

I am going to offer you some thoughts upon this diffi- 
cult subject, treating it first doctrinally, and then prac- 
tically. It is very seldom that such abstruse discussions 
find a place in this pulpit; and now nothing is farther 
from my wishes than that any of you should be encour- 
aged to leave the paths of pure undefiled simple piety, 
for the mysteries of tangled metaphysical polemics. " The 
secret things belong unto the Lord our God ; but those 
things which are revealed belong unto us and to our 
children forever, that we may do all the words of this 
law." 

If we are properly engaged about the plain duties of 
the Gospel, we will not be tempted to perplex ourselves 
with the subtilties of controversial divinity, any more 
than will a traveller pressing homeward, wish to leap into 



Predestination. 



every quicksand that he may fathom its depths, or to 
rush into every thicket by the wayside that he may try 
how far he can penetrate. It was through pride of reason- 
ing that man fell. Eevelation constantly assails the 
arrogance which impiously arraigns the credibility of the 
divine word, unless our puny intellects can comprehend 
things which it is the glory of God to conceal. The de- 
sign of the Gospel is to humble this temper, and to nour- 
ish in us the spirit of " a little child," without which the 
mind will go on sounding its dim and perilous w T ay, till 
it is lost in endless mazes, bewildered inextricably in 
dark, interminable labyrinths. 

As, however, men affecting to be w T its and geniuses are, 
in books and in conversation, forever parading their flip- 
pancies on the question of predestination and free-agency, 
it is worth while to show them, once for all, how little 
they can take by their infidelity and ribaldry. 

I. I am first to treat our subject doctrinally. And 
you see at once that it presents the very question which, 
century after century, has been the source of bitter con- 
troversy ; which has not only supplied the sceptic with 
his sneers, but has exasperated pulpit against pulpit, 
church against church, and council against council. — 
The problem to which I refer is that of God's decrees 
and man's moral agency, to solve which two systems have 
been advocated, two parties have been formed. Let us 
examine each of these systems, let us hear each of these 
parties, whom — that I may avoid the shibboleths of hos- 
tile religious prejudices and factions — I will designate 
as the Libertarians and the Necessarians. 

The Libertarians reject the doctrine of predestination; 
they deny that God has fore-ordained all things. But, now, 
can this negation be even mentioned without shocking 
our reason and our reverence for the oracles of eternal 
truth? 

1 might easily shew that nothing is gained by this denial, 
that it only removes the difficulty a little farther back. 
This system rejects predestination, and maintains that 
God has left all men to act as they choose. But what is 
meant by a man's acting as he chooses ? It is, of course, 



10 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

that he obeys the impulses of his own feelings and pas- 
sions. Well, did not God endow him with these passions ? 
Did not God know that if certain temptations assailed 
the creature to whom he had given these passions, he 
would fall? Did he not foresee that these temptations 
would assail him ? Did he not permit these temptations 
to assail him? Could he not have prevented these 
temptations ? Why did he form him with these passions ? 
Why did he allow him to be exposed to these temptations ? 
Why, in short — having a perfect fore-knowledge that 
such a being, so constituted and so tempted, would sin 
and perish — why did he create him at all? None will 
deny the divine fore-knowledge; and I at once admit that 
the mere foreseeing an event, which we cannot hinder 
and have no agency in accomplishing, does not involve 
us in any responsibility. But when the Creator, of his 
own sovereign pleasure, calls an intelligent agent into 
being, fashions him with certain powers and appetites, 
and places him amid scenes w T here he clearly sees that 
temptations will overcome him — in such a case it is self- 
evident that our feeble faculties cannot separate fore- 
knowledge from fore-appointment. The denial of pre- 
ordination does not, therefore, at all relieve any objection, 
it only conceals the difficulty from the ignorant and un- 
thinking. 

But even if the theory of the Libertarians were not a 
plain evasion, it would be impossible for us to accept 
such a solution ; for it dethrones Jehovah ; it surrenders 
the entire government of the world to mere chance, to 
wild caprice and disorder. According to this system, 
nature, providence, grace are only departments of 
atheism; God has no control over the earth and its 
affairs ; or — if that be too monstrous and revolting, — he 
exercises authority over matter, but none over the minds 
and hearts of men. " The king's heart is in the hands 
of the Lord, as rivers of Avater, he turneth it wdiitherso- 
ever he will ;" — such is the declaration of the Holy 
Spirit ; but this theory rejects this truth. God exercises 
no control over men's hearts, consequently prophecy is 
an absurdity ; providence is a chimera; prayer is a mock- 
ery ; since God does not interfere in mortal events, but 



Predestination. 11 



abandons all to the wanton humors and passions of 
myriads of independent agents, none of whose whims 
and impulses he restrains, by whom his will is constantly 
defeated and trampled under foot. A creed so odious, 
so abhorrent to all reason and religion, need only be 
carried out to its consequences, and no sane mind can 
adopt it. 

And this heresy is condemned on every page of the 
Bible. It is deeply to be lamented that theological 
partisans so often treat texts of Scripture, as hired advo- 
cates in our courts treat those witnesses whose evidence 
damages their cause, — cross examining and brow-beating 
the clearest passages, — seeking to perplex their plain 
meaning— and to extort from them a testimony they 
will not and cannot give. But, after all ingenuity has 
been exhausted, how unequivocal is the language of in- 
spiration. "The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, 
the thought of his heart to all generations;" "All the 
inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, he doeth 
according to his will in the army of heaven, and among 
the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, 
or say unto him, What doest thou ;" "And they prayed 
and said, Lord shew Avhether of these two thou hast 
chosen ; that he may take part of this ministry and 
apostleship ;" "Whom God did foreknow he did predes- 
tinate, moreover whom he did predestinate them he also 
called;" " Being predestinated according to the purpose 
of him who worketh all things after the counsels of his 
own will." Passages like these might be easily multi- 
plied, but I prefer to take another course, and to estab- 
lish the doctrines of the Sacred Oracles by a sort of 
proof which is very striking, and which silences all cavil 
and sophistry. 

The depositions to which I now refer are gathered 
from those narratives in which man's free agency is taken 
for granted or expressly affirmed, while at the same time, 
the entire event is ascribed directly to God's over-ruling 
decrees. Let us turn for a moment to these records, and 
let us begin with the transportation of Joseph into 
Egypt. Head the history of his mission to his brethren, 
of the conspiracy among these brethren to slay him, of 



12 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

Keuben's scheme to save his life and restore him to his 
father, of the arrival of the Ishmaelite merchants, of 
Judah's proposition to sell him to them, and of the 
cruel and unnatural traffic. There never was a transac- 
tion in which human passions— envy, hatred, revenge, 
cupidity — were more confessedly the sole ruling cause 
and motive from first to last. " And the patriarchs," 
said Stephen, " moved with envy, sold Joseph into 
Egypt." Yet the result, from beginning to end, is 
ascribed to God's purpose and decree. " And Joseph 
said unto his brethren, Be not grieved nor angry with 
yourselves, that ye sold me hither, for God did send me 
before you to preserve life. So now it was not you that 
sent me hither, but God." And the Psalmist utters the 
same declaration. " He sent a man before them, even 
Joseph, who was sold as a servant, whose feet they hurt 
with fetters, he was laid in irons until the time that his 
word came, the word of the Lord tried him." 

Take, next, the fatal obduracy of Pharaoh. In the 
book of Genesis it is repeatedly said that " Pharaoh 
hardened his heart and sinned yet the more," but in the 
same chapters it is declared that "The Lord hardened 
the heart of Pharaoh." And in the Epistle to the Ro- 
mans it is written, "For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, 
Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I 
might show my power in thee, and that my name might 
be declared throughout the earth." 

In the first book of Kings, the people appeal to Re- 
hoboam, to abate a portion of the burden under which 
they groaned. That monarch seeks the counsel, first of 
the old men, the former companions of his father, and 
then of the young men who had grown up with him. 
Wilfully rejecting the sage advice of the elders, he 
adopts the tyrannical measures recommended by the pas- 
sions of his youthful associates. The consequence is, 
the revolt of the ten tribes. Here was an arbitrary 
decree of a despot, instigated by an evil heart and evil 
counsellors; yet the whole is attributed directly to God's 
decree. " The king hearkened not unto the people; for 
the cause was from the Lord, that he might perform his 
saying, which the Lord spake by Abijah the Shilonite 
unto Jeroboam the Son of Nebat." 



Predestination. 13 



In the same regal history, Ahab disobeys God ; and 
the prophet is sent to warn him that, as a punishment, 
he shall be slain in battle. The monarch disguises 
himself so that he is not known ; and " a certain man 
drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel 
between the joints of the harness, and he died." The 
archer aimed his shaft at no one, but discharged it " at a 
venture " against the confused masses. Yet it was 
winged and guided by God's unerring decree. 

In the entire volume of the Book nothing is more 
fearful than the epitaph upon the soul of Judas Iscariot, 
spoken by the Saviour himself, " It had been good for 
that man if he had not been born." You at once perceive 
that this sentence consigned him to everlasting misery. 
The Universalist can never evade this passage. For if, 
after myriads of ages, the lost soul shall be released and 
translated to heaven, those centuries of wretchedness 
will be only as a moment, as nothing, compared with an 
eternity of happiness ; and it would not then be true 
that the culprit had better never been born. But now 
this treason — though instigated purely by covetousness, 
the ruling passion of the apostate — vvas a part of God's 
pre-arranged purpose. "]^~one of them is lost, but the 
son of perdition ; that the Scriptures might be fulfilled ;" 
" The Son of Man goeth as it is written of him, but woe 
unto that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed, it 
had been good for that man if he had not been born;" 
" Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been 
fulfilled which the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of David 
spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them 
that took Jesus." 

In fine, the great catastrophe of the Bible, the cruci- 
fixion of the Eedeemer; if ever a deed was perpetrated 
by cruel relentless malignity, it w r as the murder of that 
innocent benefactor of mankind. The actors in that 
tragedy were charged with heinous guilt in having 
" killed the Prince of life," whom " with wicked hands 
they crucified and slew." Xor did these murderers at- 
tempt any palliation. " They were pricked to the heart," 
and cried out in anguish, " What shall we do ?" Yet 
this conspiracy and its triumph only accomplished the 



14 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

predeterminations of eternal wisdom and love. " Those 
things which God before had shewed by the mouth of 
all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so 
fulfilled. 5 ' " Him, being delivered by the determinate- 
counsel and fore-knowledge of God, ye have taken and 
by wicked hands have crucified and slain." "For of a 
truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast 
anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the 
Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together : 
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel deter- 
mined before to be done." 

If anything be certain, then, it is that the anti-predes- 
tinarian system is wholly untenable. It is good for no- 
thing, since it solves no difficulty, it stultifies our reason, 
it is practical atheism, and it contradicts the express as- 
sertions of the Bible. 

This argument is highly pleasing to some of you, I 
perceive. I read your approbation in your countenances. 
I see you are ready to come forward and extend to me the 
hand of fellowship and cordial congratulation. Certain- 
ly, I hear you exclaim, all that you have advanced 
is incontestable; it is just what Ave firmly believe. 
None but an idiot can reject the doctrine of predestina- 
tion. Eeason and Scripture both condemn the heresy 
which leaves man a free independent agent. We have 
always maintained this, and your reasoning ought to si- 
lence the presumption of those who proudly arrogate 
liberty of will and action. The men who thus speak be- 
long to the other class I have mentioned ; they are Ne- 
cessarians; they hold that God not only foreknows but 
fore-determines all things; that his decree controls irre- 
sistibly all matter, all mind, all feeling, all action ; and, 
therefore, that man's free agency is a tenet false, un- 
scriptural, and absurd. Let us turn to this system, 
and examine it for a moment. Now. in the very outset 
we encounter one objection to this creed, which amounts 
to a refutation, and which nothing can remove ; it is the 
consciousness of free will and free agency which every 
man carries in his own bosom. Eeason, refine, cavil as 
we may, one thing is certain, we feel that we are free 
agents. Consciousness is an inward faculty which in- 



Predcst ina t ion. 1 5 



forms us of what passes within us ; and its intuitions are 
conclusive and final as to the principles of our mental 
constitution, — just as the authority of the senses con- 
vinces us of what takes place in the outward world. — 
No matter what metaphysicians and schoolmen say, I am 
not more sure that I see the sun in the heavens, than that 
I act in accordance with my own unrestrained volitions. 
Suppose a man should construct an ingenious argument 
to prove that you do not see and cannot walk. You might 
not he able to detect the fallacy of his reasoning, but so 
long as you do see and do walk, you know that his logic 
is all false. 

Just so in the case before us; the testimony of the 
interior sense is equally conclusive against all specious 
denials of our freedom. Indeed, if our will and conduct 
are not free, they are, of course, under compulsion; and 
it is impossible for conscience either to approve or to 
condemn our actions or our motives; the deliberate mur- 
derer is no more guilty than the innocent victim of brute 
force who, in spite of his protestations, is compelled to 
discharge a pistol into the breast of a stranger. 

Whatever theological dogmas men may adopt, there are 
some original truths written in the very structure of our 
nature, and our moral responsibility is one of these prim- 
ary truths. 

But let us look a little more closely at this scheme of 
necessity, and see if it does not conduct us to issues quite 
as monstrous as those which have just shocked us in the 
opposite system. If man is not free, what then ? Why, 
then, he is not accountable when he sins. If man be 
forced by necessity, it is absurd to predicate any moral 
quality of his actions, to call them either good or evil. — 
If man be compelled, it is impossible to deny that God is 
the author of sin — of all the sin which is perpetrated. — 
From conclusions so profane and repulsive as these, even 
the hyper-Calvinist and fatalist shrink back, yet they 
are committed inevitably to them by their creed. 

This is not all. The system of the Xecessarians is 

condemned by the Scriptures as unequivocally as that of 

their opponents. The cases which I have just now cited 

to establish the doctrine of predestination, are equally 

ii 1 * 



16 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

convincing as to man's free moral agency. For you re- 
member that the inspired writers expressly charge the 
crimes upon their authors, without the slightest intima- 
tion that God's decrees have anything to do with man's 
guilt. In fact, they announce each of the doctrines now 
before us in the same sentence without any attempt to 
reconcile them, without seeming to be aware of any sort 
of contradiction between them. Kecall the illustrations 
I submitted to you a moment since — -the cases of Joseph, 
of Pharaoh, of Ahab, or Rehoboam, of Judas, of the 
crucifixion — and you will find them just as incontestable 
with reference to Liberty as to Necessity. They take for 
granted man's free agency, as well as God's sovereign 
and universal control. Indeed, it is manifest that every 
call, every threat, every expostulation, every exhortation 
in the Bible supposes that man is a free agent. If he be 
not free, if he be the passive victim of inexorable, irresis- 
tible destiny, the Sacred Volume is a compilation of 
glaring inconsistencies — of sheer downright falsehood 
and mockery. If a fixed fate has fore-doomed men as 
mere machines, how can God utter those tender complaints 
of their conduct with which the Scriptures abound ? If 
his decrees compel men, how can he so earnestly admon- 
ish and beseech them to repent and turn from their evil 
ways? If men are forced by God's pre-ordination, how 
can he utter that assurance, " As I live, I desire not the 
death of the sinner, but that he turn and live?" How 
could Jesus affirm that, if the mighty w r orksdonein Chora- 
zin "had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have 
repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes," and that if the 
mighty works done in Capernaum "had been done in 
Sodom, it would have remained until this day?" In a 
word, if God's purposes bind men inflexibly in chains, 
what is the meaning of that touching, w 7 eeping exclama- 
mation, " Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the 
prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how 
often would I have gathered thy children together even 
as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye 
would not. Behold your house is left unto you deso- 
late"? 

If you have followed me, I think you will confess now, 
that neither of the two classes indicated can be right. 



Predestination. 17 



The Libertarian is plainly in error when he rejects the doc- 
trine of predestination ; and the Necessarian is as plainly 
in error when he rejects the doctrine of free agency. 
And these are the only two parties. I am aware that 
some theologians profess to belong to a third and moder- 
ate school; and they undertake to reconcile the difficul- 
ties of our subject by this solution : — that God who ap- 
points the end, appoints also the means. This is the 
proposition advanced by Dr. Chalmers in an admirable 
sermon upon the very text now before us. It is no doubt 
very true ; but it elucidates nothing, it only removes the 
difficulty one step farther. The advocates of this thesis 
do not belong to a third class, they are Necessarians, and 
ascribe all events to God's decrees as rigorously as if no 
agent had been employed. In a former part of this dis- 
course I remarked, that those who admit God's fore- 
knowledge, but deny his fore-appointment, gain nothing 
by the discrimination ; since, in the Creator, our minds 
can draw no distinction between foreseeing and fore-or- 
daining. I make a similar observation now as to the in- 
terposition of a medium. Nothing is gained by it. The 
unthinking may be thus satisfied ; but it is an old axiom, 
that he who performs an act by another, performs it 
himself. In human affairs God never acts immediately, 
except when working miracles; he uses instruments and 
agents. These, of course, are chosen by him ; and if 
they are necessitated by his decrees — as is supposed in 
the case before us — the introduction of one or many 
agencies produces no modification in the system, which is 
that of mechanical force and stern compulsion. In these 
assemblies where you are compelled to listen in silence, 
a preacher may think that he has triumphed, when he 
thus disposes of an objection; but he deceives himself. 
His hearers see clearly that he has not fairly met the dif- 
ficulty ; he has only shifted it a little out of sight. 

In the recital from which our text is taken Paul an- 
nounced, by express revelation from heaven, that not a 
soul on board the ship should perish. Yet when the sea- 
men were about to leave in the boats, he as confidently 
declared that unless they remained in the vessel the pas- 
sengers could not be saved. According to the interme- 



18 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

diate system, the Apostle was very inconsistent in this 
last admonition ; since he must have seen clearly that if 
God had predetermined the salvation of all, he had also 
indefeasibly adjusted the means, and that his decree 
could no more be frustrated by the treachery of the mari- 
ners than by the winds and the waves. 

In reference to predestination and free agency there 
are, then, only two systems — that of the Libertarians, 
and that of the Necessarians. These schemes seem to 
our minds not only irreconcilable, but antagonistical. 
Yet the rejection of either involves us in consequences 
absurd and impious. And what is still more confound- 
ing, the Bible with a directness and plainness admitting 
of no dispute or evasion, inculcates both of these con- 
flicting doctrines, requiring our unmutilated faith in 
each, without even noticing the inscrutable difficulty 
and seemingly palpable contradiction by which our in- 
tellects are bewildered. 

Thus perplexed and staggered, what are we to do? 
Thus far we have only been entangling ourselves in a 
labyrinth; following first a path which leads oneway; 
then returning and pursuing another path running in 
the opposite direction; but every attempt involving us 
more inextricably until we feel hopelessly lost. What 
are we to do ? It is evident that there is only one hope 
left us. We must confess our absolute blindness, and 
procure a guide who comprehends all the dark intricacies ; 
one in whom we have perfect conlidence; who can and 
will conduct us safely ; and Ave must surrender ourselves 
to him. Suppose that two men born blind were to enter 
into a dispute as to the color of an object; one affirming 
that it is red. ; the other that it is blue. Jt is clear that 
these discussions would be simple absurdities ; since 
neither of them possesses that sense by which color can 
be known. Mr. Locke gives the case of a blind man 
who insisted that he knew what the color scarlet re- 
sembled ; and when asked what, he answered "The 
sound of a trumpet.'' 5 Their controversy could be de- 
cided only in one way. An umpire must be found who 
can see; and who will decide the question truly; and 
they must submit to his arbitrament. This analogy 



Predestination. 19 



illustrates exactly our condition as to the subject before 
us, which is confessedly beyond the reach of human 
faculties. But, now, can we secure such a guide as we 
have described ? Where is the arbiter to be found, who 
perfectly comprehends these deep things of God, and to 
whom we may with perfect confidence refer the difficulty ? 

My brethren, the guide, the arbiter we seek is before 
us. Itis God himself. He understands fully his decrees ; 
he also comprehends man's free agency ; and he declares 
as we have seen, that all our speculations are wrong; 
that both these doctrines are true; and, of course, that 
there is no discrepancy between them. I have shown 
that is impossible for us to reject either of these great 
truths, and it is equally impossible for our minds to 
reconcile them. But here, as everywhere, faith must 
come to our aid, teaching us 1o repose uncpiestioningly 
upon God's veracity; reminding us that "Secret things 
belong unto the Lord our' God;" and rebuking the arro- 
gance which demands that our intellects shall penetrate 
and reconcile those thoughts of the divine mind which 
are as high above our thoughts as the heavens are above 
the earth. With unspeakable condescension, God con- 
stantly invites us to confer and plead with him. " Come 
now," he says, " let us reason together." Only once, in 
all the Scriptures, does he silence the arguments of man 
by a stern abrupt assertion of his sovereignty ; and this 
is when an inquisitive objector has assumed the attitude 
of a caviller who, daring to believe less and presuming 
to comprehend more than is revealed, find- fault with his 
decrees because, as he pretends, they destroy man's 
moral freedom. It is this very presumption the Apostle 
cuts short by that sudden retort, "Nay, but, man, 
who art thou that repliest against God ?" 

The pillar by which Jehovah led his people was lumi- 
nous all night long, but in the day it became an impene- 
trable column of murky cloud ; and it is thus God now 
reveals himself to us. His precepts and our duty are all 
so plain, that the wayfaring man though a fool need not 
err therein ; but if, instead of pursuing our way humbly 
and earnest.y, we seek to fathom the abysses of his ador- 
able wisdom, we are baffled ; clouds and darkness are 



20 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

round about him, " he makes darkness his secret place, 
his pavilions round about him are dark waters and thick 
clouds of the skies." And, as in the wilderness the 
blackness proclaimed the majestic presence as gloriously 
as the splendor, so now, " it is the glory of God to con- 
ceal a thing." His independence, his infinite superiority 
to all creatures, that reverential awe which is due to such 
a Being, require that much in his providence and every- 
thing in his secret counsels shall be inscrutable to 
man. 

If from Paul the traveller, animating his harrassed 
tempest-tossed fellow voyagers, we turn to Paul the 
theologian, and ask, how the immutable purposes of God 
can be harmonized with the perfect freeness of men ; he 
does not attempt to gratify our curiosity, he has but one 
answer, he exclaims, " the depth of the riches, both 
of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! how unsearcha- 
ble are his judgments, and his ways past finding out." 
And this temper — this humble confession of our incom- 
petency, this profound submission of our reason to mys- 
teries which are above us — is taught not only by inspira- 
tion but by natural reason. We have taken our text 
from the travels of an Apostle, let us borrow from 
another traveler a case of casuistry which has been well 
cited by his illustrious countryman, and which ought to 
be profitable to many now before me. This acute and 
accurate author has recorded much useful information 
concerning the Persians; and he tells us that among 
those Mohammedans the duty of remembering the limits 
of the human understanding is inculcated by the follow- 
ing curious anecdote. 

" There were once three brethren who all died at the 
same time. The two first were men ; the eldest having 
always lived in a habit of obedience to God ; the second, 
on the contrary, in a course of disobedience and sin. The 
third was an infant incapable of distinguishing good 
from evil. These three brothers appeared before the 
tribunal of God ; the first was received into Paradise, 
the second was condemned to hell, the third was sent to 
a middle place where there was neither pleasure nor 
pain, because he had not done either good or evil. When 



Predestination. 21 



the youngest heard his sentence, and the reasons on which 
the supreme Judge grounded it, grieved to be excluded 
from Paradise, he exclaimed, Ah, Lord, hadst thou pre- 
served my life as thou didst that of my good brother, 
how much better would it have been for me. I should 
have lived as he lived, and then I should have enjoyed 
as he does the happiness of eternal glory. My 
child, replied God to him, I knew thee, and I knew, 
that hadst thou lived longer, thou wouldst have lived like 
thy wicked brother, and like him wouldst have rendered 
thyself deserving of the punishment of hell. The con- 
demned brother, hearing this discourse of God, exclaimed, 
Ah, Lord, why didst thou not confer the same favor 
upon me as upon my younger brother, by depriving me 
of a life which I have so wickedly misspent as to bring 
myself under a sentence of condemnation ? I preserved 
thy life, said God, to give thee an opportunity of saving 
thyself. The younger brother, hearing this reply, ex- 
claimed again, Ah, why then, my God, didst thou not 
preserve my lifealso, that I might have had an opportunity 
of saving myself? God, to put an end to complaining and 
disputing, replied, Because my decree had determined 
otherwise." 

Let us, my brethren, study this fable, and be instructed 
by these ingenious heathen. Other teachers begin by 
proposing to their scholars the examples of those who 
have distinguished themselves in learning. Jesus com- 
mences by setting before us a little child, and requiring 
us to cultivate an humble, docile temper. The fact is, 
we are familiar with names, and we mistake this for a 
knowledge of things ;- we adopt a system and love that 
more than truth. The inspired WTiters never set them- 
selves to build up well adjusted scientific schemes, they 
simply announce •' God's testimony/ 7 But toe must com- 
pact the truths revealed into a regular symmetrical body 
of divinity ; we examine the Sacred Oracles, not to learn 
all they disclose, but with a fixed determination to defend 
our theory. Hence we study, not the Bible in its am- 
plitude, but the authors who advocate our dogmas. And 
hence, too, we seek to wrest those Scriptures which con- 
flict with the beauty and harmony of our ingeniously 
constructed systems. 



22 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

Do you receive the doctrine of predestination? Cer- 
tainly. To reject it, I would have to stultify my intel- 
lect, to discard prophecy, which is based upon this truth, 
to abjure the unequivocal teachings of the Bible, to be- 
lieve that God had abandoned the earth to chance and 
disorder, and to plunge into I know not what absurdities. 
Well, then you do not receive the doctrine of man's free 
agency. Indeed I do; for otherwise I must renounce my 
own distinct consciousness, I must disbelieve the Scrip- 
tures, 1 must make God the author and yet the punisher 
of sin, I must precipitate myself into I know not what 
absurdities. I embrace both doctrines. Nay, more; I 
see clearly that if I reject either of these great truths and 
cling to the other, it will tow me away into fathomless 
depths of folly and impiety. Bat, how do you reconcile 
these two doctrines ? reconcile ! I do not reconcile 
them at all. I am not required to reconcile them. Who 
made me a judge and reconciler of God's acts and attri- 
butes and clearly revealed testimonies ? No, my brethren ; 
let us rather with Job exclaim, "Behold I am vile, what 
shall I answer thee ? I will lay my hand upon my 
mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer ; 
yea, twice, but I will proceed no farther. Lo, these are 
parts of thy ways, but how little a portion is heard of 
him. I know that thou canst do everything; therefore 
have I uttered that I understood not, tilings too wonder- 
ful for me which I knew not. Canst thou by searching 
find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto 
perfection? It is high as heaven, what canst thou do? 
deeper than hell, what canst thou know?" 

For my own part, as I contemplate these two grand 
doctrines I seem to see two parallel lines stretching away 
into eternity, with thousands of other lines, all of which 
my vision can pursue but a little way. How they can 
ever meet, or whether they meet at all, I have no means 
of deciding. They appear to be ultimate facts, between 
which we can discover no links, but which are perfectly 
harmonious in the Divine Mind. We can discern no con- 
nection between them ; but it is preposterous to affirm 
that there is collision;— preposterous in the exact mean- 
ing of the word, since a pre-requisite to such an assertion 
is a knowledge which we cannot possess. 



Predestination, 23 



When I affirm two distinct truths, you never refuse to 
believe each unless I can shew some connection between 
them. " There is such a country as England.'' " The sun 
is shining brightly." What would yon think of his in- 
tellect who should say, Both these propositions are clear, 
but I will not receive them unless you show me the rela- 
tion between them. Such a man you would pronounce a 
lunatic. Very well, now apply this reasoning to the doc- 
trines before us. i; God has pre-ordained all things." — 
" Man is a free responsible agent." Neither of these pro- 
positions can be denied ; why do you reject either of them, 
unless I can shew the connection between them? You 
will reply, Because they contradict each other. Xow, 
this I deny, and this you cannot possibly prove. The 
whole matter is reduced to this single question : Can 
God fore-ordain all things, and yet form an intelligent 
being who shall be a perfectly free, moral, accountable 
agent ? And it is clearly preposterous for any finite mind 
to attempt to answer that question ; for the decision de- 
mands omniscience. God only can solve that problem, 
and, as we have his solution, — as he declares that he has 
peopled the earth with beings as free as if there were no 
decrees — our duty is plain. In this, as in other mysteries 
of Godliness, our speculations must cease, we must sub- 
ject our "philosophy and vain deceit" to the decisions of 
Kevelation. Eeason must ascertain what God says, and 
then both faith and reason must acquiesce in humility 
and reverence. 

True wisdom is always humble. The wisdom which 
descendeth from above is so profoundly humble that it 
at once confesses its ignorance, and says, " If any man 
think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing 
yet as he ought to know." It feels that all our present 
knowledges are only puerilities which will be put aside 
when we become men — a sort of nescience which u shall 
vanish away" when our minds are emancipated from 
darkness. There is a region of truth inaccessible to ar- 
gument and logic; there is a "sea of light" before whose 
excess of brightness our feeble intellects are dazzled into 
utter blindness. These domains we may one day fully 
penetrate. Xow we can reach them, not by reasoning, 



24 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



but only by childlike love. And for true spiritual wis- 
dom only one course remains. As to predestination and 
other kindred subjects, we must "have faith in God;" 
we must not expect to comprehend all the parts and bear- 
ings of all things revealed in the Bible ; we must never 
carry our systems farther than the teachings of the Word 
will justify; especially we must never impinge upon the 
clear doctrines of revelation. A profound philosopher 
has well remarked that " the wall of adamant which 
bounds human enquiry has scarcely ever been discovered 
by any adventurer until he has been roused by the shock 
which drove him back." All which is necessary to the 
perfect repose of a devout mind, is the knowledge, either 
that the truth has been ascertained, or that it is inaccess- 
ibly concealed in the abysses of light in which God dwells. 
As to the abstruse topics upon which we have been med- 
itating, we may, therefore, rest from all speculations with 
perfect confidence. If we attempt to explain and recon- 
cile the doctrines of predestination and free agency, we 
find impassable barriers hemming us in, and sharp ada- 
mant striking us back. But the proofs of these doctrines 
are irrefragable. Their harmony we must leave with 
God ; it is an ultimate fact transcending our thoughts ; 
but clear to that Intellect which is the supreme fountain 
of all light and love. 

II. So much for our text treated doctrinally. The few 
moments which remain I devote to the practical lessons 
of our subject, for these are very important ; darkness 
serving us for light; darkness teaching us more than 
light — even as night reveals more of the starry glories of 
the firmament than the day. 

And, first, it will not be in vain that I have conducted 
you through the intricacies of this discussion, if, once for 
all, we learn the folly of human wisdom, when in the 
presence of the deep things of God ; if we are convinced 
that the philosopher must discard his " oppositions of sci- 
ence falsely so called/' and must, with the peasant, meek- 
ly receive the communications which God has vouchsafed 
to man. Those who cavil at the mysteries of revelation, 
and those who pretend to solve them, always affect su- 



Predestination. 25 



perior wisdom and penetration ; but in fact they only be- 
tray a want of thought. I do not understand everything 
connected with this proposition, therefore I cannot believe 
it; the man who reasons thus will have a very short 
creed, for what truth is there, even in nature, which does 
not involve mysteries ? Such language is simply foolish. 
For, whatever be the obscurities and difficulties of the 
Gospel, there is nothing in them unworthy of a religion 
which is divine, they are "mysteries of godliness 7 ' in- 
spiring sacred veneration, teaching us to be holy. And 
whatever system we may seek to substitute for the Gos- 
pel — the religion of nature, infidelity, atheism — we can- 
not escape mysteries; we can explain nothing; we can 
only lose ourselves in fresh obscurities and difficulties. — 
In heaven God promises that all shall be explained, as far 
as finite intellects can comprehend his conduct and per- 
fections; but at present, every reflecting mind confesses 
that we are surrounded on every side by inexplicable 
enigmas. If anything be certain, if anything be true, 
elevating, worthy of all our confidence, it is the revela- 
tion contained in the Bible. Abandon that and we must 
surrender ourselves to universal scepticism. 

There is even among those who profess to be Chris- 
tians a Wiint of that full confidence which the Bible 
challenges as a revelation from God. We must correct 
this lurking infidelity. When we consider God's relation 
to us, and the incompetency of nature and reason to in- 
struct us as to our future destiny, a communication directly 
from heaven seems to be an indispensable part of the di- 
vine intercourse with this earth. And supposing that 
God's goodness and justice would cause him to make a 
revelation to man, there are only two ways by which it 
can be authenticated. There are, first, credentials con- 
clusive to the mind; and secondly, internal evidence 
which convinces the heart — for the heart has its reason- 
ings, and in religion they are prompter and surer than 
the deductions of the intellect. 

Xow, examined by each of these tests, the Sacred Ora- 
cles establish at once and forever their divine origin; and 
reason tells us that her highest office is to receive in all 
their integrity the things which "eye hath not seen, nor 



26 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, but 
which God hath revealed by his Spirit." To require God 
to reveal nothing which we cannot comprehend, is to de- 
mand of him more than he has done for unfallen angels, 
more than he can possibly do for any finite being. These 
pretexts are the stale cavils of philosophy flown with van- 
ity and conceit. They are not only insane, but impious; 
for have these men any claims upon God ? In a word, 
they are manifestly but the shifts and mere subterfuges 
of an evil heart; since if these objectors knew all they 
demand to know, their duty could not be made any 
plainer than it now is. 

Theological prejudices are proverbially inveterate, and 
I do not expect that the arguments urged in this dis- 
course will detach a single partizan from the creed to 
which he has long been bigoted ; but surely the incom- 
prehensibility of the divine mind ought to rebuke the 
fierce controversies which too often embitter the hearts of 
Christians; in waging which they entirely forget the ad- 
monition, that — though we understand all mysteries and 
all knowledge — we are nothing without charity. Mar- 
cellus said that, with all his imperial power, Tiberius 
Caesar could not give currency to a new word. Sectarian 
gladiators have unhappily invented and consecrated a 
good many new words, which have become the shibbo- 
leths of strife, bitterness and persecution. The two par- 
ties whom I have called Libertarians and Necessarians are 
well known in the churches by other names. And they 
have often been arrayed in hostile attitudes against each 
other, urging a war of uncompromising intolerance; for 
this is a melancholy fact that it has generally been about 
polemical abstractions, scarcely ever about moral duties, 
that theologians have fulminated their anathemas. Each 
of these factions has much truth; but each overlooks the 
fact that, as a mist is more dangerous than darkness, so 
partial truth is one of the most dangerous forms of error; 
that the most effectual method of perverting the Bible 
is to garble its teachings; and each has pushed its system 
so far as to trench upon other truths. How much un- 
charitableness, strife, hatred, malice would be avoided, — 
what peace, love, harmony would adorn the churches — -if 



Predestined ion, 2 7 



these partizans loved their dogmas less, and the unmu- 
tilated Scriptures more; if they would conquer their pre- 
judices ; if, instead of presumptuously seeking to reconcile 
God ? s ways, they would remember that what seem dis- 
cords to ns, are only hidden, pre-established harmonies, 
which shall one day fill us with admiration and adora- 
tion; if, in short,— instead of a mistaken, harsh, hard or- 
thodoxy—they possessed more of that reverence which is 
the subiimest faculty of man's nature, before which self 
is humbled into nothing, and God's ways are a vast infi- 
nitude edged with intolerable radiance — eternity spread- 
ing all around it and stretching far away as its back- 
ground. 

The subject we have been discussing applies to our du- 
ties. Let us pray for grace that we may acquiesce in all 
the mysteries of God's sovereignty, and yet hold inviolate 
all the strenuous activities of the life of faith. In a reve- 
lation from heaven there must be some mysteries ; there 
will be much that no thought of man can fully reach — 
since it is wrapped in the very light in which God dwells 
unapproachably. But we would expect his will concern- 
ing us to be distinctly announced. And so we find it. — 
Whatever is ojscure, we clearly see our duty. In the 
narrative before us, there was no sort of doubt as to what 
was to be done. The assurance from heaven not only 
did not relax the earnestness of the Apostle and the sea- 
men, but it inspired fresh strength and ardor. And thus, 
if we are sincere, will it be with ns in our religious du- 
ties. Take prayer, for example. God promises to answer 
prayer, and we know he does answer prayer. Let us not 
perplex ourselves by curious speculations as to the manner 
in which our petitions can be granted, and how the prev- 
alence of our supplications can consort with God's un- 
changeableness. Prayer is the cry of human weakness, 
guilt and misery. If we are thoroughly in earnest, we 
will be encouraged by God's promises; nor can any ob- 
jection be drawn from the divine immutability, which 
would not equally prevent our planting, or toiling, or em- 
ploying any means whatever to attain an object. 

Again, we are under the most solemn obligations to seek 
the salvation of men; and we are only folding about us 



28 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

a fatal illusion, if we hope to escape this responsibility by 
pleading any decrees of God. When Paul was vehement- 
ly opposed in Corinth, the Lord said to him, " Be not 
afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace, for I have 
much people in this city." Does the Apostle argue that 
if God had much people in the city, it was unnecessary 
for him to labor and expose himself to suffering ? Just 
the reverse. He devotes himself with renewed zeal to his 
work, and in this he furnishes a pattern to us, and a re- 
proof to that antinomianism which has too long been a 
pretext for indolence, covetousness, perfidiousness in the 
churches. 

Lastly, and above all, let us learn to work out our 
" own salvation with fear and trembling." As a motive 
to this duty, the Scriptures assure us that "it is God 
who worketh in us." Let us admit all the force and 
comprehensiveness of this motive. God worketh in me ; 
then I can work. God worketh in me; then I will work. 
God worketh in me; then I must work. 

Amidst all our ignorance and weakness, what we 
most clearly perceive is, the transcendent importance of 
religion, the love of God, the atonement of the Cross and 
salvation through that atonement. Jesus Christ has 
come into the world to save sinners. His blood cleanses 
from all sin. The Holy Spirit can deliver us from all 
our corruptions. The Gospel is adapted to all our wants, 
and offers us its treasures without money and without 
price. All this we know. And we know, too, that God's 
hidden decrees do not at all affect our conduct and char- 
acter. You are shocked at the guilt of Judas and of the 
murderers of Christ. No ingenuity can persuade you 
that they were innocent because their passions were over- 
ruled and accomplished what God had fore-ordained. — 
Your conscience, then, seconds the declarations of the Bible 
on this subject. And your reason seconds your con- 
science; for, after all your syllogisms to prove that the 
divine purposes hold and control man, nobody could in- 
duce you to leap into the sea, or to throw yourself from 
the summit of a precipice. 

Apply this reasoning to the concerns of your soul. — 
Lost and ruined as we are, a great salvation has been pro- 



Predestination. 29 



vided for us, and it is yours by faith in Jesus. God re- 
pels no imputation with such intense abhorrence as that 
which charges him with desiring the death of any sinner. 
, "Oh, Israel," he exclaims, "thou hast destroyed thyself, 
but in me is thy help." "As I live, saith the Lord God, 
1 have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that 
the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn 
ye, for why will ye die?" Having — at such expense — 
wrought out a wonderful atonement, Jesus now calls you 
to turn to him and accept a full deliverance; he assures 
you he is not willing that "any should perish, but 
that all should come to repentance." " Come unto me," 
he cries, " and him that cometh I will in no wise cast 
out." 

But, still — as Paul said to the centurion and to the sol- 
diers, "Except these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved" 
— so I tell you this day, that unless you are found in 
Christ, you cannot be saved. It has been well remarked, 
that any fool can ask questions which no wise man can 
answer; and the simplest man in that laboring vessel 
might have proposed just such impertinent euquiries as 
we now every day hear. If God have decreed that all of 
us shall be saved, how can the escape of the sailors re- 
verse that decree? If Infinite Wisdom and Power have 
predetermined that "not a hair shall fall from the head 
of any of us," why need we take some meat"? why 
"lighten the ship and cast out the wheat into the sea"? 
why loose the rudder bands and hoist up the mainsail to 
the wind"? why need some "swim " and the rest seize 
upon "boards and broken pieces of the ship "? These 
and similar questions any idiot might have asked; but 
no man was idiot enough to waste time in such casuistry. 
On a sinking vessel people find very little edification in 
metaphysical dialectics; they are altogether too much in 
earnest to bewilder their minds with these unprofitable 
subtil ties. In the hour of danger, he would be regarded 
as a lunatic, who should stop to reason as our pretended 
philosophers reason. Had any one of the passengers re- 
fused to bestir himself and resolved to stand by his or- 
thodoxy, he would certainly have been drowned, in spite 
of all his unanswerable logic. And so, my friends, if 



30 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

you neglect the great salvation, you cannot escape; you 
will perish, and all your pleas and pretences will only 
expose you to shame and everlasting contempt. 

Be warned, be wise, before it is forever too late. 0, 
think, how short and uncertain your life is. Consider 
how perilous it is thus to defer that surrender to Jesus, 
which the word and providence and Spirit of God have 
so long been urging, and which you have so often secret- 
ly resolved upon. What is the great concern ? What ? 
you reply, why the salvation of my soul, certainly. To 
abandon sin, to overcome the fatal spirit of procrastina- 
tion, to receive the Gospel on the terms of the Gospel, to 
take up the cross and follow Jesus — this is the first, great 
concern. Such, my dear hearer, has been your confession 
a hundred times ; such is your confession now. But 
what then? Alas, you have lived, and you will leave 
this house to go on living, as if salvation were the only 
affair unworthy of your serious attention. Lay these 
things solemnly to heart. Go not all the way to the judg- 
ment, to discover that your destruction is unnecessary 
and willful and wanton. 

Or, if you are bent on self-destruction — if no entreaties 
from God, no restraints of his providence, no solicitations 
of the Spirit, no expostulations, no tears of your Saviour 
can stop you — at least do not insult Heaven by pretend- 
ing that you are waiting for more effectual influences. — 
This plea admits that you feel some strivings of the Holy 
Ghost; why do you not comply with these? Why resist 
these, and desire more powerful movements ? What is 
this, but openly to proclaim that you will try conclusions 
with the Almighty? that you are resolved to strive 
against your Maker, to yield nothing to him willingly, 
to defy him as long as you can, and only to submit to a 
sad necessity when he shall compel you ? Is there any- 
thing in Eevelation — do you seriously think there is any- 
thing in the secret counsels of eternity — to justify the 
hope that God will thus be appeased ? What, my beloved 
friend, what can you expect from such deliberate, unre- 
lenting opposition to the Sovereign of the Universe ? — 
What must be the issue of such an unequal, disastrous, 
desperate conflict ? 



Predestination. 31 



Let me adjure you — by the mercies of G-od and by the 
unspeakable danger of your soul, with only a brief and 
uncertain remnant of life left you — to adopt a different 
course. " Hear ye and give ear ; be not proud, for the 
Lord hath spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God, 
before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble 
upon the dark mountains." He is the incomprehensible 
Jehovah ; but the mysteriousness of his counsels casts 
no obscuration over his wisdom and love. It is a sublim- 
ing, rejoicing exercise of faith, to feel that in God's ways 
there are heights and depths far out of our sight ; to 
submit wholly to him ; to ascribe all honor and salvation 
to him — of whom and through whom, and to whom are 
all things; to whom be glory forever. Axe^. 




ii 2 



32 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 



Sermon ^ecotm 

DANGER TO THE SOUL FROM 
LAWFUL THINGS. 



"And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be in the days of the Son 
of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given 
in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood 
came and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of 
Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, 
they buijded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained 
fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus 
shall it be in the day when the Son of Man shall be revealed."— Luke 
xvii : 26—30. 

"^THE flood came and destroyed them all." What 
J- were they doing ? What heinous and unheard of 
wickedness were they perpetrating, that thus the founda- 
tions of the great deep are broken up, and the devouring 
ocean swallows them ? Would you know what they 
were doing ? " They did eat, they drank, they married 
wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that 
Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came and de- 
stroyed them all." "It rained fire and brimstone from 
heaven and destroyed them all." Horrible doom ; and in 
what hideous rebellion against God were they banded, 
that the sluices of vengeance are thus loosened and 
whole cities blended in one red burial ? " They did eat, 
they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they 
builded ; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, 
it rained lire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed 
them all." 

I need not remind you that in other portions of the 
Bible these tragedies are mentioned as proofs of God's 



Danger to the Soul from Lawful Things. 33 

abhorrence of sin. Here Jesus refers to them for a dif- 
ferent purpose. He here warns us against the danger of 
neglecting salvation because incessantly occupied with 
the cares, duties, pleasures of the present life. In the 
parable of the supper those who declined the invitation 
were very respectful; each saying, "I pray thee, have me 
excused ;" and their excuses were drawn from things in 
themselves proper. " The first said, I have bought a 
piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it; another 
said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove 
them ; and another said, I have married a wife." In our 
text we are admonished that death and the judgment 
will fatally surprise men, not so much because they are 
leading vicious lives, as because they are absorbed by the 
urgencies, activities, and enjoyments of the world and 
thus wholly forget that eternity, preparation for which 
is the great business, the most pressing duty of every 
human being. 

I. Men and brethren, the lesson of this morning deeply 
concerns us all. There is often the greatest danger 
where none is suspected. The text was addressed to the 
Saviour's disciples, and its solemn alarm is for the church 
as well as the world. " Licitis perimus omnes" Law- 
ful things are the most fatal snares. Hear me, then, 
carefully upon this topic; and let us begin by enquiring 
when things in themselves proper become criminal and 
dangerous to the soul. Xor is the answer difficult ; it 
is in the verses before us. 

For Jesus here warns us that lawful things become 
sins, when they so engross our lives as to prevent our 
giving to our spiritual interests the time which should 
be theirs. "They bought, they sold, they planted, they 
tmilded." Earthly cares, pursuits, schemes, investments, 
gains possessed all their thoughts, consumed all their 
attention. 

Sabbath after Sabbath I have the serious task of min- 
istering in this house to audiences gathered from various 
quarters, and composed largely of men of business. I 
preach, too, among those who read the Bible, at least 
some portions of it sometimes. And to justify an in- 



34 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

ordinate devotion to professional pursuits, yon have fur- 
nished yourselves, I am aware, with Scriptures which 
seem to you very sufficient. You are prompt to remind 
me of this text — "Not slothful in business," and of this 
— "If any provide not for his own, and especially for 
those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is 
worse than an infidel." Well, my brethren, as far as the 
mere quotations are concerned you are correct ; the pas- 
sages which you recite so earnestly are certainly to be 
found in the sacred canon. And if to subscribe to these 
articles, in your interpretation of them, be the faith of 
a Christian, you assuredly hold fast the form of sound 
doctrine. If to devote mind and heart to worldly busi- 
ness be religion, you are a pattern of religion. If to 
toil and scheme, to pass wearisome days and anxious 
nights that you may provide for your families even when 
they do not need any provision, that you may bequeath 
to your children wealth which will probably be a curse 
to them — if this be piety, you are not " pressing toward 
the mark," but have reached it ; you are not "going on 
to perfection," you are perfect. 

I beg you, however, to remember that, with reference 
to the first of these passages, you have garbled a com- 
mand which really enforces the noblest consecration to 
God, which requires us to be as spiritual in our worldly 
vocations as in oar religious devotions. " Not slothful 
in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord" This is 
the precept; and it is intended to teach us that we are 
to carry religion into our business, to act in secular af- 
fairs from spiritual motives, to consult the will of God 
in all our occupations, and to serve the Lord as truly 
when diligently pursuing our temporal calling as when 
engaged in acts of worship. 

As to the other text which covetousness quotes under 
the pretense of parental love, what does it teach ? In 
the entire compass of the Scriptures there is not a verse 
which has been more wantonly and wickedly wrested 
from its plain meaning. The apostle is speaking of the 
poor who ought to be sustained by the church ; and he 
says that those who have relations capable of support- 
ing them ought not to be maintained by the church but 



Danger to the Soulfro?n Lawful Things. 35 

by their own kindred ; for if any man provide not for 
the poor of his own family he has denied the faith, and 
is worse than an infidel. The passage has nothing to 
do with amassing fortunes for our children. On the 
contrary it requires us to employ our means to supply 
the wants of our indigent relatives ; it enjoins, not ac- 
cumulation, but a generous liberality. 

Upon this point I make every proper concession. A 
part of the Psalmists description of a good man is, that 
" he will guide his affairs with discretion." Let Chris- 
tians be enterprising merchants, diligent farmers and 
mechanics, indefatigable lawyers, judges, physicians ; but 
after all, the great rule of faith is, that the future must 
ever predominate over the present. " Seek first the 
kingdom of God and his righteousness," and let earthly 
things follow as entirely subordinate. ISTever perhaps 
did there live a man whose occupations were more diversi- 
fied than those of Paul. To-day he is traversing the 
land on long tedious journeys; to-morrow he is encour- 
aging the crew of a tempest-tossed ship, proving himself 
the staunchest seaman on board. Xow, with canvass 
and cordage, he is working as a craftsman, making, I 
have no doubt, the very best tents sold in Corinth either 
for domestic or military purposes; and anon he is thun- 
dering before kings, and converting cities and nations to 
the faith. In short, this man seemed to be everywhere, 
and doing everything; yet he says, " One thing I do." 
Amidst all his engagements, one grand object — the 
glory of God, the cause of Jesus, the good fight of faith 
— monopolized his thoughts and aims. He was ever 
busy about eternity, vanquishing difficulties, subduing 
corruptions, surmounting obstacles, that he might "fin- 
ish his course with joy." And this is the work for which 
we are placed in the world ; for this time is given us and 
all the means and helps we have; nor are our faith and 
prayers anything but a sheer delusion, if we contradict 
them by our conduct. Salvation must be the sublime 
object of our aspirations and efforts, from which nothing 
can deter, nothing can divert us, and upon which our 
hearts must be fixed and concentrated. 

But, now, suppose that, instead of this ruling consecra- 
tion to Christ and the soul, religion is with you only a 



36 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

secondary tiling, a sort of Sunday dress which you are in 
no danger of wearing out, since you put if off and lay it 
aside all the week; and that your cares, thoughts, activ- 
ities are incessantly devoted to earthly things;— what 
does this prove ? It shows either that you are not a 
Christian or that your soul is utterly secularized. Yours 
is the very condition in which the text declares that 
almost all will be fatally surprised. Eead the parable of 
the rich fool. What was his ruin ? He was engaged in 
agriculture, the primitive occupation of man in Eden. 
It is not hinted that he was dishonorable or sordid ; and 
were he living at this day, he might be an honored mem- 
ber of any of our churches, a deacon, even a pastor. 
What then was his sin ? He spent his days in " laying 
up treasure upon earth, and was not rich toward God." 
He did not habitually live with reference to eternity. 
" Where your treasure is there will your heart be also ;" 
his wealth w T as plainly upon earth, for his affections were 
all there. 

And lawful things become criminal when they acquire 
such excessive influence over us that our hearts cling 
chiefly to them for the sensuous gratifications they sup- 
ply. As I have shewn you in another discourse, this was 
the guilt of Dives in the parable. We turn aside the 
edge of the Saviour's warning by regarding him as a 
debauched and cruel glutton. Jesus, hWever, intimates 
nothing of the kind. He was rich; if that was a sin, 
why then you are scheming and laboring day and night 
to be the greatest sinners upon earth. " He was clothed 
in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every 
day;" that is to say, he lived in a style which his wealth 
and position authorized ; so lived Job, so lived David, 
and so live thousands who are justly respected for sin- 
cere piety. But his cruelty to Lazarus. Not at all. 
In the East it is a proof of great benevolence, if a noble- 
man permits beggars to sit upon the steps of his palace 
and receive alms from his visitors.* When he lifted up 
his eyes in hell, there was no charge of vice or cruelty. 
The voice from heaven reminded him only that he had 



*See Page 55 in First Series. 



Danger to the Soul from Lawful Things. 37 

" had his good things in this life ;" this was his ruin — 
a life of worldliness, ease, self indulgence. 

The appetites and affections are powerfully moved 
through the avenues of the senses. When objects are 
visibly present they make such an impression that the 
holiest man cannot help seeing them, and the world sees 
nothing else. We cannot put them away while they are 
before us; and when removed, their ideas still remain, 
and imagination often renders the memory of a pleasure 
more dangerous than the pleasure itself. The objects of 
faith, never having been seen, exert no such potency, 
and leave no images in the heart. Hence the necessity 
that we should be ever " looking at the things unseen 
and eternal." By fixing upon them the earnest eye of 
faith, hope, love, longing desire, we shall preserve their 
ascendency over our souls; but the moment we remit 
this communion with eternity, sensible things recover 
their pernicious supremacy. "All that is in the world 
— the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the 
pride of life — is not of the Father, but of the world ;" 
these words are full of instruction. They declare that 
the pleasures, the desires, the honors of life are innocent 
when kept in proper subordination ; but that as soon as 
they engross our affections, their nature is altogether 
changed; they become "lusts" — "fleshly lusts which 
war against the soul," and as to which we are admonished 
that " if we live after the flesh we shall die." 

II. You see, then, when lawful things become sins and 
snares through the improper and inordinate use of them. 
But, upon a subject of such moment we must not be 
satisfied with remarks so general, we ought to enter our 
own bosoms and examine ourselves. And, for this pur- 
pose, I submit to you the following practical tests, com- 
mending them to every man's conscience in the sight of 
God. 

First, then, if you would know whether lawful things 
have gained a criminal ascendency over you, examine 
whether you are daily watching, praying, contending 
against their influence. Every Christian virtue sup- 
poses and requires such a conflict. It is essential to love 



38 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

for God, — "if any man love the world, the love of the 
Father is not in him;" and to faith "this is the victory 
that overcome th the world, even our faith." And so of 
other graces. 

I go farther and affirm that the sins most disastrous 
to those who profess to be, and who are pious, shew the 
necessity of such unceasing combat against the usurpa- 
tions of lawful objects. For, let any one carefully study 
the human heart, and enquire how it is that real Chris- 
tians so often violate their vows, fall into gross inconsis- 
tencies, pierce themselves through with many sorrows, 
perhaps dishonor a cause dearer to them than life, — and 
he will find that these falls scarcely ever proceed from 
insincerity or a want of good faith and holy purposes, 
but are almost always the disorders introduced by some 
passion which the more easily besets us because it is in 
itself proper, and which, through the peculiar tempera- 
ment of a Christian, or the circumstances in which he 
is placed, has acquired a fatal dominion over him. In 
his artful attacks upon Jesus, the devil addressed him- 
self to those appetites and passions which are natural 
to humanity; and it is through feelings, sentiments, 
desires proper in themselves, but ever seeking to usurp 
an improper sway over us, that he is constantly attempt- 
ing to betray us into sin. Woe to us if we are not ever 
on our guard against temptations which every day lie in 
ambuscade all around us. We must "bring under our 
bodies and keep them in subjection," or the interests, 
pursuits, gratifications of the world will bring us under, 
and keep us in subjection, and sap the very foundations 
of our spirituality and holiness. 

If you would ascertain whether lawful things are ex- 
posing your souls to danger, examine whether you are in 
reality expecting your chief happiness from them, either 
in the way of success in business, or in carnal gratifica- 
tion. " Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this 
present world." He had not abandoned Christ; he 
would probably have abhorred the thought of apostasy ; 
but secular things had gradually wound themselves 
about his heart, so that the joy which he once shared 



Danger to the Soul from Lawful Things. 39 

with Paul in the service of the Kedeemer* had been 
displaced by an eager devotion to the world. " My son, 
give me thy heart ;" — there is the oblation which the 
Christian must daily offer to God. The "many" are 
saying " who will shew us any good ? Lord, lift thou up 
the light of thy countenance upon us ; thou hast put 
gladness in my heart more than in the time that their 
corn and their wine increased ;" — there is the difference 
between the reigning desires of the children of heaven, 
and of the votaries of this world. 

The admonition against the "abuse" of the world 
contains a distinct admission that the "use" of it is 
proper. Indeed, "the world," that is, the Christian en- 
joyment of it, is enumerated as one of the "all tilings" 
which are ours. God gives us temporal blessings " rich- 
ly to enjoy;" but to set our affections upon any earthly 
objects so as to make them essential to our highest hap- 
piness, this is at once a mistake and a sin. Au impatient 
restlessness to possess them; a pining after them as if 
they were our life, in the temper of Rachel when she ex- 
claimed, "Give me children, or I die;" — this shews 
clearly that our hearts are given up to idolatry ; and 
unless mercifully withheld, such objects will cause our 
souls to come to grief, and to sad experience. Jesus 
says, " Deny thyself, and follow me." These inordinate 
passions say, " Disobey Jesus, and gratify us." And if 
we expect our highest happiness from them, it is not 
difficult to know whom we shall obey. The heart will 
not continue faithful, nay, it is already faithless, if Jesus 
is not its chief delight; and earthly rivals will usurp and 
hold the throne which belongs only to God. 

A third criterion by which we may determine whether 
lawful things are disastrous to the welfare of our souls, 
is found in the secret turn and bent of our thoughts 
when God is visiting us with afflictions that he may wean 
us from the world. If Jesus reigns within, our hearts 
will then instinctively fly to him as their centre, portion 
and resting-place. But if under chastisement our 
thoughts are going after the world and its transient con- 

*See Colossians iv. 14, and Philemon 24. 
ii 2* 



40 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



cerns and sensuous gratifications, the symptom is omi- 
nous, portentous. 

"What a course of moral study, what comprehensive 
spiritual casuistry is folded up in that summary as to the 
duties and relations of life which is prescribed by the 
apostle, after he had decided the cases of conscience pro- 
posed by the Corinthians. He sends them, indeed, mi- 
nute directions ; but he tells them that if they would only 
cherish habitually a proper conception of the brevity of 
our present existence and the illusiveness of earthly 
things, they would need no advice as to that holy dead- 
ness to the world which becomes a Christian. "But this 
I say, brethren, that the time is short; it remaineth that 
both they that have wives be as though they had none ; 
and they that weep as though they wept not; and they 
that rejoice as though they rejoiced not; and they that 
buy as though they possessed not; and they that use the 
world as not abusing it; for the fashion of this world 
passeth away." This settled weaneclness, is, however, 
not even comprehended by us until our hearts have been 
touched and chastened by affliction, until sorrow makes 
things real and earnest, until our eyes are washed by 
tears to see objects in their true lights. And this is the 
very design of God when he corrects us. 

But now suppose that while he is thus seeking to draw 
us off from things seen and temporal, and to bring us un- 
der the influence of things unseen and eternal, we are 
still saying with Lot, "Oh, not so my Lord" — not so fast, 
not so far. It is said of Lot that, "When he lingered, 
the men took hold of him and hastened him, the Lord 
being merciful to him." Well, suppose that, even after 
our afflictions have, as with angel hands, led us away 
from the objects of our idolatry, we resemble Lot's wife, 
to whom the context refers, and continue still to cast 
longing, lingering looks backwards; that we make pleas 
and pretexts for our daily passions; that our feelings rise 
up in mutiny ; that we say, " Ye have taken away my 
gods, and what have I more?" — why, here is most melan- 
choly proof of a criminal attachment to carnal interests 
and joys which will either be fatal to our salvation, or 
must draw down upon us severer chastisements, so that 



Danger to the Soul from Lawful Things. 41 

our consciences can no longer be silenced, and our hearts 
shall ascend to God and find in him their supreme feli- 
city, the source of all happiness, even when that happi- 
ness seems to come from his creatures. 

I had intended to indicate other marks by which we 
ought to search ourselves, but it is unnecessary ; for one 
reflection comprehends all I could say. My brethren, 
surely a being composed of two natures, one mean, the 
other spiritual and noble; a being to whom are proposed 
two classes of interests, one groveling and perishing, the 
other celestial and immortal ; — surely, whenever these 
natures and interests conflict, such a being ought not to 
hesitate a moment as to his preference. 

Now, such exactly is our condition; and what shall 
we say of a man who habitually overlooks his soul, his 
highest interests, and lives for the body and the earth ? 
As far as our spiritual welfare permits, we are right in 
seeking to promote our temporal welfare. They are ig- 
norant alike of man's constitution and the religion of Je- 
sus, who insist that our natural propensities and passions 
are to be extirpated; — an error this however which I need 
not expose, for it certainly makes no converts among you. 
But to fix all our attention upon the objects which favor 
these propensities and passions, to be always earnestly 
enquiring, — not how Ave may rise above this material 
frame, with its disorders, and nourish and elevate the 
never-dying principle; — but what shall we eat? whatshall 
we drink? wherewith shall we be clothed? how may 
we amass money ? how secure the gratification of the 
senses ? how consult a piece of organized clay? — when I 
reflect upon this perversion and degradation of our hu- 
manity, this shameful exhibition of stupidity, folly, sin, 
I comprehend the earnestness and solemnity with which 
Jesus again and again warns us upon this point. This 
degeneracy is so universal that it does not shock us, just 
as in a lunatic asylum the inmates do not notice the in- 
sanity of each other ; but everything — the senses, the 
mind, the heart, the imagination — everything is in moral 
disorder, when a being like man can give the main 
strength of his feelings to the love of money, or of sensual 
gratification ; when a spiritual being is living for the 



42 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

body ; when an immortal being is engrossed by the pur- 
suits, interests, profits, pleasures of this earth, as if they 
were his real satisfying portion. 

III. Our remaining topic has reference, to the guilt and 
danger of a life in which lawful objects exercise over us 
this inordinate and absorbing power. At first, indeed, 
we do not see anything so very criminal in being thus 
occupied. "They did eat, they drank, they married, 
they were given in marriage, they bought, they sold, they 
planted, they builded." Well> why not ? what harm in 
all this? " Why not? what harm?" — Bat could we ask 
these questions were we not most deplorably fallen and 
blinded ? 

0, consider such a life in the light of the Gospel and of 
the grand truths which the Gospel reveals; the wonders 
of redemption ; the means which God is now employing 
to diffuse the blessings of salvation over the earth, and to 
bring these blessings home to our own children and fam- 
ilies; the sublime duties and conflicts to which the Gos- 
pel calls us; and the magnificent promises which it un- 
folds. Here are subjects the contemplation of which en- 
gages the spirits in heaven ; things into which the an- 
gels desire to look, and which are infinitely more inter- 
esting to us than to angels. Represent to yourselves a 
man for whom all these riches of grace and glory have 
been prepared, to whom all these glorious mysteries and 
certainties are proposed — -represent to yourselves such a 
man utterly insensible to their inspirations, never giving 
one thought to these great objects, but living as if there 
were no Gospel, no salvation, no heaven, no eternity ; 
eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building. 

And consider such a life in the light of a dying hour. 
To die the Christian's death, we must live the Christian's 
life ; and upon this article you at least who attend my 
ministry cannot deceive yourselves. You know that we 
are saved through faith. But you also know that saving 
faith is not an opinion, not the mere assent to an ortho- 
dox creed ; that it is such a reception of the Gospel as 
binds all our souls in loyalty to Jesus. It is to the the- 
ology of Paul we turn whenever we wish to rejoice in the 



Danger to the Soul from, Lawful Things. 43 

noblest exhibitions of the doctrines of grace. When, 
however, that apostle is about to die, what is the evidence 
of his piety, for which he glorifies God ? Does he say, I 
have been evangelical in my opinions; I have entertained 
and defended certain articles of religion ? No, he ex- 
claims, "I have fought a good light, I have finished my 
course, I have kept the faith." In that solemn, search- 
ing, stripping hour, what ground of assurance, of reason- 
able hope, will you be able to find as you look back upon 
a life during the whole of which you have been driving 
hard after the world, pressing forward among the most 
eager devotees of the senses and passions? 

In every view, a life entirely given to secular things is 
a plain, downright open contempt of the things disclosed 
in the Gospel. This is not all. Such a life opposes and 
defeats the very design of the religion of Jesus. 

My beloved brethren, once for all, if it be possible, let 
us understand the religion we profess. I say, if it be pos- 
sible, because we all seem resolved to misconstrue the 
teachings of the Bible as to the character of a true disci- 
ple of Christ. We have this character clearly described 
in these pages, but every one follows his own notions. — 
With one, to be a Christian is to contend for certain ab- 
stract doctrines and dogmas. With another, the Gospel 
is all grace and mercy; he is confident of salvation, tho' 
sw r allowed up in selfish cares and indulgences. While a 
third — the representative of the great mass of professed 
Christians — thinks that he can be a follower of Jesus, 
and live as if there were no cross, no self-denial, no cru- 
cifixion to the world, and that at the last moment, when 
he can no longer hold on to the earth, it will be time 
enough to lift his eyes to heaven. 

However, the more closely we study the Scriptures, 
the more clearly do we perceive that he only is a Chris- 
tian who feels himself a stranger and a pilgrim upon the 
earth ; and that the very purpose of the Gospel is to 
produce in us a holy deadness to this present world, and 
a growing attachment to the world which faith reveals. 
Indeed, what does God intend by placing us here under 
such an economy ? Does he mean to make us happy ? 
But can the soul find its felicity in these abodes of vanity, 



44 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

where all things are disproportioned to its capacities 
and mock its deepest wants? where the fairest flowers 
never come to fruit, and need only be gathered to wither 
in our hands ? What then ? Does God wish us to be 
unhappy ? Perish a thought so injurious to his love, 
his wisdom, his mercy. There is but one solution of 
the problem. Our existence here is a state of probation 
in which we are to choose between objects of sense, and 
of faith, between the soul and the world, between 
" things seen and temporal" and " things unseen and 
eternal." A Christian lives in view of eternity. In his 
practical estimate everything here is contemptible when 
compared with eternity. "Yonder I shall be satisfied," 
he says, " Yonder I shall mingle with congenial spirits 
and enter upon that existence for which my soul yearns." 
But if this be so, what is the character of him who, in- 
stead of reaching after that grand futurity which alone 
makes man great, spends his years in a succession of 
cares, desires, hopes, anxieties, .all terminating in this 
poor diminutive sphere of vanity and sin. 

Lastly, meditate upon the declaration of the Sacred 
Oracles as to the victory over the world which faith 
achieves in the heart of every believer. " Whatsoever is 
born of God overcome th the world, and this is the victory 
that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he 
that overcometh the world, but he that belie veth that 
Jesus is the Son of God ?" 

Now, what is the world to which this passage alludes? 
Is it the world of covetousness, vo uptuousncss, licen- 
tiousness ? By no means. It does not require the exer- 
cise of faith to make us superior to these low vices. It 
is of the dominion of worldliness the apostle speaks. 
He refers, not to passions criminal in themselves, but to 
that eagerness for present gratification which, like Esau, 
sacrifices future inestimable blessings for a present 
pleasure ; and this — not because we place a higher value 
upon the indulgence (for Esau did not compare the 
savory morsel with his birthright) — but because the mess 
of pottage satisfies the cravings of an importunate ap- 
petite. The victory of faith is the renunciation of every 
gain and pleasure inconsistent with the will of God. 



Danger to the Soul from Lawful Things. 45 

To live after the flesh, to debase all the glorious at- 
tributes of the mind to objects which appeal to the 
senses, this is to starve the soul now, and to damn it in 
eternity. " He is dead, died on Wednesday." "What 
did he live for ?" "For the world ; and he gained the 
world ; he amassed wealth ; he bequeathed a large fortune 
to his children, and is dead; died on Wednesday" — My 
God, what a life for a Christian, a disciple of Jesus ! 

It is the tyranny of the Present, of the Now, of the 
Sensuous (the proper word is Sensual, but so degener- 
ate is man, so universally and constantly do the senses 
minister to the depravities of our nature, that "sensual" 
has got to mean "vicious," and we have had to make a 
new word), it is this tyranny which the apostle desig- 
nates when he speaks of " the world." And now, weigh 
well his remarkable language. " Whatsoever is born of 
God overcometh the world." The very work of the 
Holy Spirit in regeneration is so to change the heart, 
that its warmest affections, its strongest desires, its high- 
est hopes, the sources of its truest joys are all new, spir- 
itual, elevated above the tastes and passions of the earth. 
" Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that be- 
lieveth that Jesus is the Son of God?" For, in the ex- 
ample of this adorable Being what a model of entire 
superiority to that love of distinction, of selfish gratifi- 
cation, of power, of money which are the ruling passions 
of men. In his doctrines earthly things are compara- 
tively insignificant, our spiritual interests alone have 
real worth and greatness. Above all, the atonement, the 
dignity which that amazing sacrifice sheds upon the soul, 
the honor it confers on man ; the glory and immortality 
to which it raises him; — with these sublime truths, these 
transporting prospects before him, the child of God, the 
heir of heaven cannot surrender his heart to the empire 
of carnal objects ; as he surveys the astonishing spectacle 
on Calvary, he exclaims, "God forbid that I should 
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by 
whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the 
world." 

But, I must draw these remarks to a close. Men and 
brethren, the subject upon which I have addressed you 



46 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

this morning is of universal application. We all carry 
within us the dispositions and passions against which we 
are admonished in the text. Surrounded by objects 
which constantly tempt us to inordinate attachments, 
we all have need to be perpetually on our guard that we 
may hold our affections properly disengaged from them. 
But, alas, it is because this discourse is applicable to all, 
that I fear it will influence none ; especially when it 
addresses you upon the duty of detachment from the 
profits, pleasures, cares of the world. 

To-day, some ten, twenty, forty thousand pulpits are 
haranguing audiences as to the brevity and uncertainty 
of human life, the vanity of riches, the unspeakable 
folly and danger of spending time in pursuits which 
wrong and mock our spirituality and immortality. 
What will be the effect of these sermons and exhorta- 
tions ? As soon hope to cure a chronic disease by dis- 
sertations and homilies. The Eastern fable tells us of a 
magical ointment which, applied to one eye, causes all 
nature to be dressed in a thousand charming hues ; but 
if both eyes are anointed, the illusion vanishes and every- 
thing is seen in its true color. If we except one or two 
here and there whose vision has been cleared to look 
upon things as they will really appear in a dying hour, 
all are under a hallucination as to the world from which 
we strive in vain to disenchant them. Upon the great 
mass of men is the spell of a witchcraft which cheats, 
entrances the reason ; and the wizard's touch holds even 
the professed people of God fascinated, dazzled by deceit- 
ful apparitions which no mortal power can dissolve. 
Vainly do we warn them against the love of the world 
and the things that are in the world ; a fatal infatuation 
beguiles them. They admit all we urge; but each one 
draws for himself a line between the proper and the 
criminal pursuit of the world; and so draws it as to 
condemn others, and to spare his own darling attach- 
ments. 

Was not Noah " a preacher of righteousness ?" And 
with the sound of the coming deluge in his ears, what 
rousing appeals he must have uttered. AVasnotLot a 
preacher ? Did he not implore, and conjure, and vex 



Danger to the Soul from Lawful Things. 47 

his righteous soul, and stir up all his might to impress 
men with a sense of their danger? What influence did 
those sermons exert? The text informs you. "They 
did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, 
they builded, they were married and given in marriage." 

And it is too manifest that this very engrossing power 
of lawful things is now defeating all our ministry. In 
the parable of the sower Jesus declares that "the cares 
of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the 
lusts of other things entering in, choke the word and it 
become th unfruitful." My brethren, my friends, let 
this no longer be. It is not great sins w r hich cause me 
to tremble for you ; it is the earthly, supine, careless 
spirit which respects yet neglects the great salvation ; 
not the dissipations of vice, but the far more fatal dis- 
sipations of business, — of cares, anxieties which absorb 
your thoughts day by day — which, year after year keep 
you seeking to amass wealth, until death shall surprise 
you and the wrath of God be amassed upon your souls 
forever. It is this excessive engrossment which causes 
so many of you to put off the vast concern of salvation 
for " a convenient season." And this procrastinating 
temper is not confined to the world. Thousands in the 
church are thus deferring the great duty of living as 
they know they ought to live, and as they mean to live 
before they die. 

Let us no longer suffer this treacherous delusion to 
steal away our reason, to hide from us the things it most 
deeply concerns us to see, to keep out of view the objects 
of faith, while those of sense flatter and seduce us. If 
the admonitions to which you have this day listened be 
founded in truth, respect them. Sacrifice the present to 
the future, things seen and temporal, for things unseen 
and eternal. Let this subject shed a new light on the 
experience of those who are Christ's. You often com- 
plain of darkness and doubts; how can it be otherwise? 
When you spend your hours rushing in headlong voraci- 
ty after the world, how can you know spiritual joy and 
assurance ? Be Christians on principle. We are born 
with inordinate propensities to carnal objects. As we 
grow up, these propensities become strong, violent attach- 



48 



Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



ments, producing disorders in our senses, onr passions, 
our imaginations which, by prayer, faith, the succors of 
the Holy Spirit, we must be daily subduing, or they 
will subvert all spiritual vitality in our souls. "Seek 
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness," — this 
is the great law of the religion of Jesus ; and there can 
be no religious enjoyment now, no safety for eternity, 
until we obey this law ; — living for heaven, and leaving 
all earthly things to come afterwards as comparatively 
unnecessary and insignificant. 




The Kingdom of God cometli not with Observation, 49 



Sermon Efttrfc. 



THE 

KINGDOM OF GOD COMETH 

NOT WITH OBSERVATION. 

"The kingdom of God cometli not with observation."— Luke xvii : 20. 

T7 VERYWHEEE wefind this difference between little- 
-C-^ ness and greatness, that the former is loud and noisy, 
while the latter is calm and quiet; the most potent forces 
being ever deep and still — the silent rays of the sun, ac- 
cording to the fable, achieving what defied all the tumult 
and bluster of the storm. When we compare our works 
with the works of God, this contrast is most striking. — 
We can do nothing without a flourish of trumpets; with- 
out seeking to attract attention by pomp, pageantry, os- 
tentation ; but how silently God performs his glorious op- 
erations. The sun shines; the starry canopy glows with 
radiant urns of light; the seasons revolve — winter, spring, 
summer, autumn, with their beneficent ministries ; plan- 
ets, worlds, constellations burn along their orbits; and 
all how mutely, how unobtrusively. 

The passage I have read declares that, in the kingdom 
of God — the Gospel dispensation — there is the same ab- 
sence of all display and parade. I offer you one or two 
thoughts in illustration of this great truth. 

I. And, first, I remark, that the kingdom of God was 
not ushered in with pomp and splendor; so the Saviour's 
language may be and has been translated. 

In uttering the text, Jesus intended to correct the uni- 
versal error of the Jews as to the Messiah and his glory. 



50 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

No anticipations could have been more magnificent than 
those they cherished as to this august deliverer and his 
illustrious victories; and a long train of venerable pro- 
phecies converged upon that period of the world's history, 
as "the fullness of the time" when he should appear. 

Hence the question of the Pharisees, and the Saviour's 
answer. "And when he was demanded of the Pharisees 
when the kingdom of God should come, he answered 
them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with 
observation. Neither shall they say, Lo here! or Lo 
there! for behold the kingdom of God is within you." — 
Very remarkable words these, whether we consider the 
persons addressed or the speaker himself. 

Expectation was now on tiptoe. Shiloh was about to 
appear, and with imperial sway to establish his empire, 
breaking the Koman yoke, and exalting his chosen people 
to sovereignty over the whole world. I need not tell yon 
how this cherished traditional pride of the nation would 
rise up in revolt against a Messiah invested with no 
earthly glory, and coming with no display nor demon- 
stration. 

And the speaker, what, who was he ? In any view of 
his character, the announcement he here makes is aston- 
ishing. For if he was the Messiah, all the dearest hopes 
of Israel were miserably disappointed. If hew r as only an 
obscure Hebrew youth, whence had he this knowledge, 
this conception of a kingdom wholly spiritual, and which, 
even at this day, most professed Christians are incapable 
of comprehending ? 

My brethren, how entirely the kingdom of Christ was 
founded without any of the parade, pomp and circum- 
stance expected by the Jews, you all know. The king 
himself made his entrance, not as the nation anticipated, 
nor as we would have predicted. No heralds announce 
his approach, no imposing retinue form his escort. While 
the Jews are looking for signs — for visible tokens and 
prognostications — lo, at midnight, in an obscure village, 
a most unnoticeable every-day thing occurs, "a child is 
born." All heaven is in commotion at that birth ; and, 
in brilliant files, angels and archangels rush down to 
Bethlehem, shaking celestial radiance from their wings, 



The Kingdom of God cometh not with Observation. 51 

shedding choral harmonies from their lyres; but there 
is no stir upon earth. K"ot in the day, when all was 
noise and tumult, but when the heart of the busy world 
was asleep, when nature was hushed in solemn repose, 
and only silent stars kept watch like sentinels; not in 
a time of war, when the souls of men were ready to 
hail a martial chieftain, but in a period of universal 
peace ; not in the capital, but in a sequestered hamlet, 
far away from the haunts and observation of men ; — then, 
there, he was manifested; and so manifested, so humbly 
and softly; with no awful presence, with no regal state 
and equipage ; but the incarnation of gentleness and 
meekness ; an infant nestling in the bosom of a lowly 
maiden. Only a few rustic shepherds knew that the 
King had come — just as now only a few simple wakeful 
souls feel his approach.. Pharisees with their sanctities, 
scribes with their learning, the very priests ministering 
at the altar, were ignorant of this amazing phenomenon. 
Xo crowds thronged to welcome the Eedeemer; no ac- 
clamations greeted the Prince of Peace. He came as "a 
root out of a dry ground, having no form nor comeliness;" 
with nothing to distinguish him from any other poor 
child, unless it were deeper abasement, poorer parentage, 
and meaner accommodation. 

And as was his advent, so were his life, death, resur- 
rection, and ascension. Compared with these eyents all 
the records of heroes and kings, all revolutions, the fall 
and rise of states and empires, are turned into contempt; 
yet, at the time, they attracted little notice from man- 
kind. 

I said his life ; for you all know how unostentatiously 
he lived and moved among men; his only title "the Son 
of Man ;" his escort a few obscure companions, chosen 
from that class of society which, even in this country, is 
disdainfully styled "the lower order." His discourses — 
those truths which were to regenerate and bless the 
earth — were delivered without auy pretension, generally 
to a few, sometimes in conversation with a single listener. 
Calmly, gently, his looks, tones, words fell into men's 
hearts. His doctrine dropped as the rain, his speech 
distilled as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender 



52 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

herb, as the showers upon the grass. And while work- 
ing such physical miracles; giving sight to the blind, 
health to the sick, life to the dead; and while blessing 
the earth with nobler miracles, shedding life and light 
and joy into crushed hearts and perishing souls ; — still 
that prophecy was even fulfilled. "He shall not strive 
nor cry, neither shall his voice be heard in the streets. 
A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax 
shall he not quench." Never was there such a triumphal 
procession as his, while moving among the children of 
men. It was the march of Love over the ruins of sin 
and misery; but no incense, no paeans announced his pro- 
gress. Never upon earth had there been such displays 
of godlike mercy and power, but so little did they reveal 
him to a blind world, that, to the last, he could say, 
" Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." 



As his life so was his death. The crucifixion was the 
most sublime and awful tragedy of which the universe 
had ever been, or ever will be the theatre. It absorbed 
the admiring gaze of cherub and seraph. Upon that 
stupendous spectacle — that altar and that victim- — the 
regards of the High and Holy Majesty of heaven were 
concentrated with ineffable intensity; and while eternity 
endures, the wondrous deed of love will exhaust the 
adorations of glorified spirits. But the scene on Calvary 
kindled no hosannas in human hearts. "He was led 
as a lamb to the slaughter." He bore his cross to the 
place of execution, and was nailed to it, like any com- 
mon malefactor ; and expired amidst the scoffs and 
blasphemies of the * rabble. Nor did his resurrection 
and ascension attract the attention of men. Early, 
before the first grey of the morning, the Conqueror 
calmly arose, and — folding his death-garments away at 
the head of the grave — he stepped forth, unseen by 
mortal eyes, and stood alone beside the sepulchre, " The 
Eesurrection and the Life." And as noiselessly he left 
the earth. Leading his apostles to a sequestered spot, 
he turned to them, and, lifting his hands, he blessed 
them; and, while blessing them, he ascended, and a 
cloud received him out of their sight. 



The Kingdom of God cometh not with Observation. 53 

"The kingdom of God cometh not" (it was not 
ushered in) "with observation." Silently the King 
approached, and entered our ruined world on his mis- 
sion of love. And — while other revolutions, are in- 
troduced with tumults and convulsions, with the stern 
magnificent array of battle — he, the holiest among the 
mighty, and the mightiest among the holy, without 
fleets or armies, without conflicts or violence, founded 
an empire which has already changed the face of a 
hemisphere, and shall one day regenerate this entire 
planet. "'Every battle of the warrior is with confused 
noise and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be 
with burning and fuel of fire. For unto us a child is 
born ; unto us a son is given, and the government shall 
be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called 
Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting 
Father, the Prince of Peace." 

II. I pass, now, to a second illustration of the truth 
in the text; and observe that " the kingdom of God" is 
not extended with observation. 

The Christian world is looking and longing for the 
more perfect coming of this kingdom ; but — while con- 
demning the low material conceptions of the Messiah 
which the Jews cherished — the professed disciples of 
Jesus are everywhere repeating the same superstitious 
delusion. This is, in fact, the mechanical age of the 
world. Whatever people want to do now, they make a 
machine to do it with ; and this idea has got into the 
churches, so that religion is in danger of becoming 
mechanical in head and heart. Everywhere there is a 
monomania for all sorts of pious machinery; for meet- 
ings, anniversaries, committees, societies, exhibitions, in- 
stitutions, constitutions, newspaper puffing, public col- 
lections, as the only engines for the advancement of the 
Gospel. The warning in our text is too often over- 
looked; and good men are ever seeking to carry forward 
the enterprises of salvation by " observation "—by visi- 
ble pomp and show — by crying "Lo here! and Lo there !" 
External ecclesiastical organizations; publicity and 
parade in religious operations; a certain eclat and 



54 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

pageantry in services and ceremonies; architectural splen- 
dor in edifices of worship ; imposing arts and efforts of 
oratory; the noise and stir of popular excitement; — it is 
by such aids and contrivances, that multitudes are hop- 
ing to secure the triumphs of the Gross. 

Now all this, if not a sin, is a great mistake. The 
kingdom of God is within you. The Greek word has 
been properly translated " within ;" for that it is an in- 
terior, invisible kingdom, is the reason assigned by Jesus, 
why it is unaccompanied with external demonstration. 
By this reproof the Saviour virtually declared, that 
the kingdom of God is spiritual ; that it consists abso- 
lutely in nothing exterior ; so that even his own personal 
presence in the midst of the people, could be of no sort 
of avail, unless he was -revealed in them. He did not 
mean to say that this kingdom was in the hearts of the 
Pharisees whom he addressed ; for he expressly rebukes 
their entire ignorance of its very nature. His admonition 
is an aphorism of universal application ; a form of speech 
common to all languages; and expressing the general 
axiom, that the kingdom must be and always is "within." 
He condemns the superstitious anticipations of a glorious 
outward manifestation of this kingdom; and — with- 
drawing it from the visible and perishable — he transfers 
it to the invisible and eternal. The glory of God's king- 
dom is in the hidden spiritual life of Christians; in their 
purity, their works, their graces. Bat now, need I tell 
you, that religious pomp, noise, parade do not foster this 
life, are, in fact, often fatal to it? 

The kingdom of God is the kingdom of truth ; this is 
the sublime announcement which Jesus proclaimed in 
his interview with Pilate. Though deeply impressed 
by the dignity of his presence, the Eoman governor, ac- 
customed to see royalty invested with the trappings of 
power, was unable to comprehend the supremacy which 
the Eedeemer asserted for himself. "Art thou a king 
then ?" he exclaims — Thou, — thus dishonored and de- 
spised — art thou a king? "Jesus answered, Thou sayest 
that I am, a king. To this end was I born, and for this 
cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness 
of the truth." The insignia of his regal power were not 



The Kingdom of Godcomelh not with Observation. 55 

tinsel prestige and splendor,— a throne — a sceptre — a 
strip of velvet sprinkled with gems. His was the im- 
perial majesty of truth ; by the power of truth he would 
reign in the minds of men. And this is the power by 
which his empire is now to be extended. Truth living 
in the heart, and testified in the life, — this is the agency 
by which the cause of God is to vanquish all opposition. 

Yes, the kingdom of Jesus is the kingdom of truth ; 
•but it is noiselessly that truth wins its way. By deep 
patient thought it expands its empire, but thought is 
ever silent, its power is moral not material. The only 
victories which exert any permanent influence, are those 
achieved by truth. These continue to bless the earth, 
while heroes and their deeds of renown " pass away like 
the whirlwind;" but no sonorous metal, no clang of 
arms, no martial pomp and parade mark these triumphs. 

Brethren, we do not want external pomp, imposing 
mechanism ; nor do we want loud polemical con- 
troversies and clamors about theology. What we 
need is, witnesses to the truth, characters into which 
truth is received in its purity, and from which truth is 
reflected as from a mirror. The great necessity of the 
church and the world is, true men; men true to truth, 
to Christ, to themselves; men loving the truth, exempli- 
fying the truth. There is a kingly authority in such 
Christians; they are the lineal apostolic successors, the 
real heaven-anointed priests, the true heaven-ordained 
prophets of the Cross, clothed with a power far more 
sublime and resistless than the gifts of tongues and of 
miracles. 

The kingdom of God is not extended with observation, 
because its triumphs are achieved, " not by might, nor 
by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." 

Even when the Saviour and the Apostles wrought such 
wonderful works, those miracles themselves converted 
nobody. There is something very pathetic in that ex- 
clamation, "All day long have I stretched out my hands 
to a disobedient and gainsaying people." It is the Ee- 
deemer's complaint of his little success among the Jews. 
And, when I consider his character and life, the truths 
which he uttered, the miraculous attestations to his 
ii 3 



56 Richard Fullers Sermons. 

mission, his exclusive devotion to the lost sheep of the 
house of -Israel, and the adaptation of his doctrines to 
the masses of the people, I confess it seems to me nearly 
incredible that the ministry of Jesns should thus have 
been almost a failure. The explanation is found in the 
fact, that the Holy Spirit had not fully come. No sooner 
had this glorious Paraclete commenced his dispensation, 
than Ave behold the inauguration of a new era ; we see 
three thousand souls converted in a few moments, under 
the simplest preaching of the Cross. 

I am very anxious, my friends, to impress this truth 
upon you. I wish you would study the rise and first 
wonderful spread of the Gospel ; that you would observe 
how, without tumult or mechanism, but by a deep 
spiritual power, its light and life pervaded the world. 
Ivo machinery — not all the material force of fleets and 
armies — can subdue the pride of man's heart, or bend a 
single thought of man's mind. Our spirits can be 
bowed only before the mysterious potency of the Holy 
Spirit. It is all important that you should be often re- 
minded of this great doctrine ; for we are in danger of 
forgetting it; we are prone to cry, "Lo here, Lo there,'' 
— to fix our observation upon means or instruments, and 
not to look directly to those supernatural aids, without 
which we can do nothing. Nor is it difficult to detect 
the causes of this fatal illusion. 

What is visible strikes the eye; but the agency of the 
Holy Spirit is hidden and inscrutable. " The world 
cannot receive him," says Jesus, " because it seeth him 
not;" and, for the same reason, Christians do not recog- 
nize and honor him. A single "spark of our own 
kindling," any "strange fire" excites us more vividly, 
than the sacred mysterious flame, in which our souls 
must be baptized. Hence, so many admit the agency of 
the Spirit, while so few have any practical persuasion of 
it. This is not all. These celestial aids are not forces 
which we can arrange and regulate in our distribution 
of instrumentalities. We are to work as if there were 
no such succors ; and, therefore, we do not realize our 
absolute dependence on them. 



The Kingdom of God cometli not with Observation. 57 

My brethren, we must correct this error; and, to cor- 
rect it, Ave have only to open the Sacred Volume, on 
every page of which, Ave find the necessity of the Spirit's 
influence proclaimed as emphatically as that of the atone- 
ment by the blood of Christ. Are the desolations of 
Zion to be repaired ? It must be the work of the Spirit : 
" Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and 
briars, yea upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city ; 
because the palaces shall be forsaken ; the multitude of 
the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for 
dens forever, a joy of Avild asses, a pasture of flocks ; 
until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and 
the wilderness shall be a fruitful field, and the fruitful 
field be counted for a forest." Are men to be convicted 
of their sins, and to repent of them ? It must be the 
work of the Holy Spirit. " And I will pour upon the 
house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 
the spirit of grace and of supplication ; and they shall 
look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall 
mourn for him as one mourn eth for his only son, and 
shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness 
for his first born." Zerrubbabel — the type of Jesus — 
shall reconstruct the temple — the emblem of that mysti- 
cal building which God is raising in the midst of the 
world ; but how shall the great and arduous undertaking 
be accomplished? "Not by might, nor by power, but 
by my Spirit, saith the Lord." The brightness of the 
Father's glory is found in fashion as a man, and is thus 
put into mysterious communication with our humanity ; 
but he must be consecrated and equipped for his enter- 
prise by the descent of the Spirit upon him. " The 
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed 
me to preach the Gospel to the poor ; he hath sent me to 
heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the 
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at 
liberty them that are bruised; to preach the acceptable 
year of the Lord." The Aposdes had been taught by 
Jesus himself, and educated as the future lights of the 
world ; they were endowed, too, with miraculous powers. 
Yet they remained impotent for the conversion of men, 
until they were endued with power by the Spirit. Till 
then, they Avere Avarned to attempt nothing. The 



Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



Saviour " commanded, that they should not depart from 
Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, 
which ye have heard of me. For John baptized with 
water,- but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not 
many days hence." " Ye shall receive power after that 
the Holy Ghost is come upon you" In short, these first 
preachers of the Gospel expected to triumph, simply 
because they were " strong in the grace which is in Jesus 
Christ," because il Christ crucified is the wisdom of God, 
and the power of God." Their success is always ascribed 
directly to the " hand of the Lord which was with 
them." From first to last, from the day of Pentecost to 
the final chapter of the inspired record, we read not one 
word about the learning, eloquence, power of these glori- 
ous evangelists. The bitterest persecutors — Jews and 
Gentiles, priests, nobles, high and low, rich and poor — 
were turned to the Lord. Whole cities and nations were 
obedient to the faith. What preachers were these ; what 
arguments, what discourses, what resistless efficacy in, 
their appeals. Wonderful, in Greece and Rome, had 
been the might of those consummate orators, whose 
thunders appalled the guilty, roused the slumbering 
spirit of states and senates, and marshaled armies 
against invading tyrants; but those master-pieces were 
only splendid failures — or rather puerile imbecilities, 
when we compare their influence with the potency of 
the Gospel proclaimed by the first heralds of salvation. 
To these heralds, however, none of this power is ever 
ascribed. They, themselves, constantly declare, that in 
humility, in " weakness and fear and much trembling" 
they declared their message ; that, of themselves, they 
could do nothing; that Paul might plant, and xVpollos 
water, but God alone could give the increase. 

My beloved brethren, enter into these truths. I be- 
lieve that the churches are now grieving the Holy Spirit 
by forgetting their dependence upon his interposition. 
Let us not be guilty of this sin. To effect that transfor- 
mation for which this earth waits and groans, vain, vain, 
are all human agencies and ministries — vain all means, 
though of divine appointment, without a special divine 
agency. Those professed Christians who deny the per- 



The Kingdom of God cometh not with Observation. 59 

sonality and deity of the Holy Spirit act consistently, 
when they refuse to enlist in the cause of foreign mis- 
sions, or in any enterprise which seeks to change the 
hearts of men. Look around, and you will see that, 
wherever this heresy gains ground, all zeal for the con- 
version of the world at once ceases; men feeling the 
task to be hopeless. And we, whose creed acknowledges 
this heavenly Agent, but whose .conduct too often de- 
nies and insults him, are sometimes left to experience 
the penalty of this sin, to learn most painfully, by de- 
feat, how abortive are all our most devoted exertions, 
unless enforced by a power transcendent]} 7 above us ; 
and are always compelled to confess, even when we suc- 
ceed, that humility and grateful adoration are the only 
tempers which become us. Let us remember that any 
triumph — how much more the universal triumph of the 
Gospel — is an achievement to which all external isms are 
plainly disproportionate; that to expect success through 
any human expedients, any arms or contrivances of 
men, is to forsake God while professing to honor him. 
" Thus saith the Lord ; cursed be the man that trusteth 
in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart de- 
parteth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath 
in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh ; but 
shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a 
salt land and not inhabited/' Let us habitually confess 
our utter helplessness; and implore the aids of the- 
Spirit, who works secretly, mysteriously, but with im- 
mortal energy. Let our constant, fervent, importunate 
supplication be that of the church. " Awake, awake, 
put on thy strength, arm of the Lord ; awake as in 
the ancient days, in the generations of old. 0, thou 
that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth ; stir 
up thy strength and come and save us. It is time for 
thee, Lord, to work, for they have made void thy law. 
Eeturn, Lord, how long? and let it repent thee con- 
cerning thy servants; satisfy us early with thy mercy, 
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Let thy 
work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their 
children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be 
upon us ; and establish thou the work of our hands 
upon us, 'yea, the work of our hands establish thou it." 



60 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

But the kingdom of God cometh not — is not extended 
— with observation, for another reason ; because the true 
elements of its power are not those splendid gifts and 
accomplishments which men admire, but those graces 
which, unhonored, unnoticed by men, are loved and 
honored by God. 

You require no argument to prove that the distinction 
I have just made really exists; that — as the earth is 
fertilized, not by the roaring torrent and cataract, but 
by the soft rain and gentle dews, — so the Christian who 
is enriched by heaven with the choicest endowments 
may make no noise in the world, and very little in the 
church. On this point judge for yourselves. I put a 
question to each of you, give me your answer. Tell me, 
what is the most perfect Christian character you can 
conceive ? What? you all reply, why it is the character 
in which all the graces of the Gospel are combined ; a 
faith which overcomes the world, and lives in com- 
munion with heaven; a humility which abases itself be- 
fore God ; a purity which abhors the thought of sin; a 
charity which seeks not its own, but makes disinterested 
sacrifices for others; a love which ever prefers the will 
of God; in short, integrity, forgiveness, gentleness, meek- 
ness. He whose character is adorned with these graces, 
he, I hear you all say, is the most perfect Christian, he 
exemplifies most of the spirit of Jesus.- Very well; you 
are correct in the estimate ; for it was these traits which 
exalted Abraham to the pre-eminent glory of being the 
friend of God and the father and model of the faithful. 
But, now, need I tell you, that such a man will attract 
no observation ; that he will seem to be common because 
he is simple and true, always doing right, always in har- 
mony with God. Such a Christian is, in fact, uncon- 
scious of anything in himself which deserves notice. 
Any such consciousness would destroy his greatness. 
His soul, his life shines by communion with God, but, 
like Moses, he "wists not of it,' 5 To mortal eyes he 
presents none of the lineaments and powers of a great 
man, he is only a good man, a very commonplace person, 
with nothing shining to distinguish him from the com- 
monplace people around him. 



The Kingdom of God cometh not until Observation. 61 

And yet Christians of this stamp are the greatest bless- 
ings, the richest treasures to the church. They have re- 
ceived from God an ampler commission for usefulness 
than is vouchsafed to other mortals, even to those of the 
most brilliant genius. They are the salt of the earth, 
and a few of them, scattered through a community, exert 
a resistless though silent influence. I know that God 
employs noble endowments for the propagation of his 
truth : and happy they who consecrate to this glorious 
work splendid intellects, an affluence of knowledge and 
wisdom. But a workman chooses instruments best suited 
to his w T ork ; and you know the selection which God 
makes. "Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not 
many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not 
many noble are called; but God hath chosen the foolish 
things of the world to confound the wise; and God 
hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound 
the things which are mighty; and base things of the 
world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, 
yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things 
that are." 

Those who hear me know how cordially I sympathize 
with all the active enterprises around us for the spread of 
the Gospel, and how sincerely I rejoice in their prosperity. 
I go farther. I cannot comprehend how any one can 
have the spirit of Jesus and not identify himself, heart 
and hand, with these movements. But, after all, no mat- 
ter what a man's zeal in these services, he will do nothing 
for the cause of Christ, unless his character exhibit the 
virtues of the Gospel, and his demonstrations be a testi- 
mony of the power of the kingdom of God within him. 
If his life be unholy, of what avail is all the noise and 
show he can make in religious societies, in the Sabbath 
school, in the pulpit, on the platform ? His advocacy 
will only damage the cause for which he pleads so earnest- 
ly. Xo ; no, it is the silent eloquence of a holy life, which 
is the source of living, commanding energy in the cause 
of the Eedeemer. It is holiness in the heart, which is 
the secret of spiritual power. By a law as universal as 
our instincts of right and wrong,* it is certain, that no 
man, whatever be his genius, can acquire influence as a 



62 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

Christian advocate, unless his reputation for piety is un- 
blemished ; nor will he long retain such a reputation, im- 

. less real piety is his established character. "I, if I be 
lifted up," said Jesus, " will draw all men unto me;" and 
it is as the disciple of Jesus is crucified to the world and 
the world to him, that he attracts all men to the faith 
he professes. One example of humble, unassuming, self- 
denying religion will do more for the doctrines and prin- 
ciples of Jesus, than all those crowded assemblies, popu- 
lar harangues, and ostentatious pageants, which are now 
the indispensable machinery of the church. The love 
that weeps over souls; the indefatigable charity that 
visits and relieves the poor; the life of purity, meekness, 
prayer, communion with God — Oh, it is these — and not 
restless, no ; sy, heady ostentation — not vanity and ambi- 
tion, miscalled zeal — which are the true elements of 
spiritual power, the great vital forces to recommend and 
advance the cause of God among men. 

My brethren, the truth I am urging is of special im- 
portance at this day. We live at a time when, and in a 
country where, the almost universal estimate of greatness 
is deplorably false. The showy declaimer who can move 
men's passions by the charlatanism of splendid rhetoric 
and pathetic images — though he inspire no high and 
holy purposes — is wondered at as a great man ; while he 
who is silently instilling pure and noble impulses into 
a child, is rated as an inferior being, moving in a lower 
sphere. But what a mistake. Jesus declares that in his 
kingdom, true glory is humility — the spirit of unassum- 
ing active charity. He condemns as utterly inconsistent 
with the Gospel, that noisy zeal which loves to be con- 
spicuous, which attracts notice and admiration by deeds 
which live only in their ow T n multiplied echoes. 

But I must not dwell longer upon this topic. Let me 
only, before dismissing this part of our discourse, remind 
you of the striking image by which the apostle enforces 
all that I have been saying. I refer to that passage in 
which, comparing the church to the human body, he 
says, that all the members are necessary, but that those 
members are most useful which seem to be most feeble. 



The Kingdom of Goi cometh not with Observation. 63 

"The eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of 
thee; nor, again, the head to the feet, I have no need of 
you. Nay, much more those members of the body which 
seem to be more feeble are necessary. And those mem- 
bers of the body which w^e think less honorable, upon 
these we bestow more abundant honor, and our uncome- 
ly parts have more abundant comeliness. God hath tem- 
pered the body together, having given more abundant 
honor to that which lacketh." "Covet therefore/' (such 
is his application of the parable) " covet earnestly the 
best gifts. Yet I shew unto you something more excel- 
lent than these gifts." Then follows that grand eulogy 
upon love — the love which meekly, humbly, kindly, 
gently, unweariedly seeks the good of others; which he 
pronounces far more noble and effectual than any gifts; 
without which, the most splendid endowments are only 
as "sounding brass and tinkling cymbals." I have thus 
spoken of the inauguration and extension of Christ's king- 
dom upon earth. Our remaining illustration of the text 
has reference to the reign of grace in our own souls. In 
this view " the kingdom of God cometh not with observa- 
tion." 

"The Jews desired a sign ;"they demanded signal por- 
tents and omens, to announce the Messiah. So, now; 
men expect to become Christians by external ceremonies, 
or by excitement, or by great terrors, or by some striking 
manifestations. Bat what is the admonition in the text? 
" The kingdom of God cometh not with observation ; 
neither shall they say, Lo here, or Lo there, for the king- 
dom of God is within you." How earnestly are you here 
warned not to look out of yourself for something to be 
wrought there ; but to look in yourself — your own mind, 
conscience, heart — where God works secretly but marvel- 
lously. "My God," exclaims Augustine, "how did I long 
to fly from earthly things to thee; and yet I knew not 
what; thou wast doing with me. Tbou wast going to 
snatch me out of the mire of pollution, and I knew it 
not. Too late I sought thee ; too late I found thee. I 
sought thee at a distance, and did not know that thou 
wast near. I sought thee abroad, and behold thou wast 
within me." 

ii3* 



64: Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

Applying the text to that great change called conver- 
sion, it is eminently true that "the kingdom of God 
cometh not with observation." I know that sometimes 
there are violent convictions, strong excitements, convul- 
sions of the feelings, terrors of conscience, fearful agita- 
tions of the soul. This, however, is not because the king- 
dom of God cometh with observation, but because there 
is another kingdom to be subverted and thrown down. — 
Tumbling down an old house and removing the rubbish 
out of the way is always noisy work ; but how silently 
the new house goes up. These tumults, commotions, 
perturbations, are the disturbance of the ancient reign 
oftheworlcl and the Devil ; the shaking and breaking 
up of the power of inveterate passions and habits. 

Take the case of Saul. That haughty fire-soul was 
dashed to the earth, his eyeballs were seared by the in- 
tolerable blaze, his whole spirit was " terrified and 
astonished " by the vision and the voice ; but it was by 
an internal manifestation that the Saviour entered his 
heart. " It pleased God," he says, " who separated me 
from my mother's womb, to reveal his Son in me." The 
ministry of the storm, the earthquake, the fire, is only — 
like that of John — " to prepare the way of the Lord." 
The manifestation of the Saviour is not in these, but in 
the still, small voice ; — a voice whose tones reach not the 
ear but the heart; a voice direct and personal, like that 
which the prophet heard ; a voice most unexpected ; a 
voice soft, indeed, and sweet, but whose very tenderness 
and sweetness melt the soul into contrition, and cause it 
to be wrapped in speechless adoration; a voice, in fine, 
which speaks pardon, reconciliation, peace, love, "joy 
unspeakable and full of glory." "Now when I passed 
by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time it was 
the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and 
covered thy nakedness; yea I swear unto thee, and 
entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, 
and thou becamest mine." 

"Faith comes by hearing;" the great change is gener- 
ally experienced under the living ministry. It is, how- 
ever, seldom wrought by the arguments or eloquence of 
the preacher ; but almost always, by some truth which 



The Kingdom of God cometh not with Observation. 65 

has long lain dormant in the soul, and which makes the 
word spoken quick and powerful — even as the form of 
the buried prophet infused life into the corpse which 
touched it. " Say not in thy heart, who shall ascend 
into heaven ? that is to bring down Christ from above ; 
or who shall descend into the deep? that is to bring up 
Christ again from the dead. The word is nigh thee, 
even in thy mouth and in thy heart." 

Or, this change may be the fruit of sanctified afflic- 
tion ; and, then, it is the silent softening power of sor- 
row. Or, this renovation may be traced to the influences 
of home ; or to the hallowed nurture of the Sunday 
school. However introduced, the kingdom of God is 
ushered into the soul without observation. It must be 
so; for saving faith is really a state of the heart, the in- 
ward reception of Christ, the confidence which reposes 
entirely and forever upon his finished atonement and 
perfect righteousness. 

And what is thus true of conversion, applies equally 
to our growth in holiness, to the progressive triumph of 
the kingdom of God within us. Let us not mistake the 
nature of piety and suppose that it is an external ap- 
pendage ; when it is the life of our spirits imparted, and 
ever growing by union with Jesus. If you would grow in 
grace, expect God, not outwardly, but within, where he 
" sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." Very glorious 
was the temple, but "neither hammer nor axe was heard 
while it was in building." Far more glorious is the 
pure heart, the spiritual temple of God ; and in silence, 
in invisible majesty the work goes on there. We see 
the outer life of the Christian ; but his inner life — his 
solitary conflicts, his prayers, his tears, his triumphs 
over sin — is without observation. True religion is not 
what men see and admire ; it is what God sees and loves ; 
the faith which clings to Jesus in the darkest hour ; the 
sanctity which shrinks from the approach of evil; the 
humility which lies low at the feet of the Redeemer, and 
washes them with tears; the love which welcomes every 
sacrifice ; the cheerful consecration of all the powers of 
the soul ; the worship which, rising above all outward 
forms, ascends to God in the sweetest, dearest com- 



66 Richard Fuller s Sermo?is. 

munion — a worship often too deep for any utterance, 
and than which the highest heaven knows nothing 
more sublime. Progress toward God, is the law under 
which the renewed soul is placed. " Be ye perfect, as 
your Father in heaven is perfect/' But this progress is 
by growth, and growth is expansion from within. In 
chiseling and perfecting a statue, the artist plies his 
toil from without, and the work is before our eyes; but 
how silently, by what a hidden process the child grows. 
Spiritual growth is the silent development of that life 
which the soul receives from Christ at first, of that vital 
energy which it is always receiving from Christ — as the 
branch draws its secret nourishment from the vine. 

"The kingdom of God comet h not with observation." 
My beloved hearers, this kingdom has been ushered into 
the world ; it is now extending over the earth, and, all 
around you, . your friends and families are hailing the 
sceptre of the Prince of Peace. How is it with you ? 
Is the kingdom of God within you? Has Jesus entered 
and set up his empire in your soul ? While others are 
deceiving themselves with rites and ceremonies, you 
know that the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom. 
It is the sovereignty of him who " died, and rose and re- 
vived that he might be Lord of the dead and the living." 
" The kingdom of God is not in word but in power." 
"The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but 
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost," 
Has this kingdom been established in your heart ? 

This kingdom is the only real permanent thing upon 
earth. The kingdoms of this world crumble into ruin, 
but we receive " a kingdom which cannot be moved." 
All earthly things — health, wealth, friends — all we love 
or prize — are changing, passing away ; but this 
is a perpetual kingdom. " The world passeth away and 
the things of the world; but he that doeth the will of 
God abideth forever." What a sublime truth. What a 
thought that was when God thought of such a kingdom. 
All that is in the world, all that can delight the senses, 
and captivate the heart, and inflame the imagination, all, 
all, is an illusion, a shadowy pageant, a sham, a fraud. 
There is but one thing which is true and real, and 
that is, a heart obedient to God. 



The Kingdom of God cometh not with Observation. 67 

" The earth and all the works therein " (the works of 
God and man) " shall be burned up." What, then, shall 
be left? One thing; man. The only great thing upon 
earth, is man. The only thing which shall be imperish- 
able amidst the flames of the last conflagration, will be 
man. And the only real imperishable thing in man, is 
spiritual life — the soul, and its immortal capacities for 
joy and woe. Eternal life is not only everlasting exist- 
ence ; it is a perpetuity of holiness, felicity, glory ; and 
doing the will of God is eternal life; it is the bliss of 
heaven, it is our happiness now, and will be our happi- 
ness and glory forever. 

This inward kingdom will survive, when temples of 
granite shall have mouldered into dust, when the most 
firmly seated thrones shall have melted in the last fires. 
It will be still receiving fresh accessions of life and 
light and love, w r hen sun and stars have expired, and 
while eternity endures. Has this empire been established 
in our hearts? Has the will of God been crowned over 
oar wishes, passions, affections ? Eecollect, that this 
ascendency of Jesus is the kingdom of grace ; and that, 
without this supremacy of his authority over the char- 
acter of our souls now, it is the most deplorable delusion 
to hope that we can ever be partakers of the kingdom 
of glory. It is here and now that heaven begins ; it is 
here, and now, that eternal life is infused into the soul. 
The children of the kingdom are not deceiving them- 
selves with anticipations of a fancied elysium; they 
already begin to breathe celestial airs, and to taste im- 
mortal fruits. Much imperfection may still remain, 
much blindness and weakness ; but still, in the personal 
experience of every heir of the kingdom prepared from 
the foundation of the world, it is a sublime, rejoicing, 
ennobling truth, that " Where sin had reigned unto death, 
grace now reigns, through righteousness unto eternal 
life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." To Him be glory and 
dominion forever. Ame^s". 



68 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



Srrmon iFourtft. 



JESUS AND THE THREE DIS- 
CIPLES IN GETHSEMANE. 

"Then came he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now 
and take your rest ; behold the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands 
of sinners. Rise, let us be going."— Matthew xxvi : 45, 46. 

ALL profound feelings love solitude. Alone we came 
into the world, alone we must leave it; and between 
these two events we are are alone in our deepest experi- 
ences even from childhood. It is, however, especially in 
hours of spiritual conflict and depression that the soul 
recoils into lonely places, seeking to escape from the 
world, to commune with its own thoughts, in secret to 
weep and to spread before God those supplications which 
are the instinctive cry of a burdened spirit. 

The hour of his passion is now at hand ; and rising 
from the table on which they had partaken of that 
memorable supper, Jesus conducts his apostles towards 
the brook Cedron. Over this rivulet David passed, 
barefoot and weeping, when flying from his own son. — 
The Son of God now crosses it to drink the cup which 
his Father was about to give him. Arriving at Geth- 
semane, he leaves eight of his disciples among the trees 
which skirt the garden, saying to them, "bit ye here, 
while I go and pray yonder/' When ascending mount 
Moriah to offer up Isaac, Abraham said to his j T oung 
men, " Abide ye here, and I and the lad will go yonder 
and worship;" he calls the act "worship" because true 
homage to God is the immolation of what is dearest to 



Jesus and the three Disciples in Gethsemane. 69 

our hearts. And now, when the Kedeemer is about to 
begin the great sacrifice, he applies the word prayer to 

this sublime offering of himself to God. 

His humanity craving sympathy, he takes with him 
the three disciples whom he most loved, and who had 
been with him on the mount of transfiguration; thus 
consecrating Christian fellowship as a source of consola- 
tion in sorrow, as well as of delight in our spiritual joys. 
Soon, however, these cherished friends mast be left 
behind ; for the most congenial and loving can go but a 
little way with us in our bitterest trials. It was a support 
to the three Hebrews that they were together and could 
encourage one another ; but we must enter our most 
fiery furnace alone, with no companionship of earthly 
sympathy. To the eight from whom he had separated 
before, his words were, "Sit ye here while I go and pray 
yonder." To Peter and James and John he gives a very 
different charge; he says, "Tarry ye here, and watch 
with me." And having thus spoken, he leaves them, 
and moves on beyond the reach of mortal voice or eye; 
there, alone in the darkness, to bow beneath his mys- 
terious agony, and with strong crying and tears to pour out 
a soul already "exceeding sorrowful, even unto death."' 

" I know," says some writer, "but two beautiful things 
in the whole universe, the starry sky above our heads and 
the sense of duty within our hearts." Beneath that so- 
lemn canopy and with a spirit braving for us anguish be- 
yond all conception — anguish which caused his human- 
ity to quail and cry out for pity — this solitary victim dis- 
appears in the thickest shades of Olivet. Without pur- 
suing the narrative farther, I come at once to the passage 
in that scene which is described in our text, and upon it 
I offer you a reflection or two. 

I. And, first, I remark that the Son of Man is still be- 
trayed by those who are among his professed disciples. 

The perfidy of Judas Iscariot fills us with horror. For 
centuries he has occupied the highest eminence of infamy. 
His very name is so loathsome that the most abandoned 
wretch would shrink from bearing it. And out of all the 
multitudes who have ever lived upon the earth, of him 



70 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

only do we certainly know that he has passed to a doom 
fearful and eternal ; for he was " the son of perdition;" 
and referring to him, Jesus said, "It had been good for 
that man that he had not been born ; language which, 
of course, declares that his is "everlasting punishment," 
— for no matter how long a man may suffer, if afterwards 
he enters heaven, an eternity of happiness will infinitely 
counterbalance his past wretchedness, and it will be im- 
measurably belter for him that he had been born. 

It is impossible to think of the time or place which 
witnessed the treachery of this apostate, without being 
shocked at his baseness. The time; for when was it that 
he consented to the suggestions of his evil heart and 
commenced the execution of his detestable purpose ? It 
was while Jesus was engaged in setting before his apos- 
tles the most affecting memorials of his disinterested 
and devoted love. Whether Judas participated in the 
Eucharist is a controversy into which I do not enter; he 
certainly partook of the Paschal love-feast, and heard 
Jesus utter those melting farewell words, " With desire 
I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suf- 
fer ; for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof 
until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God." At the 
board spread with so touching a repast Judas was present, 
and it was then that he opened his whole soul to the de- 
mon. While the other apostles are dissolved in tears, 
while their hearts are wrung with sorrow, he is revolving 
his dark design, maturing his horrible perfidy; and 
leaving the chamber, he goes to the chief priests offering 
to betray the Kedeemer to them. 

Then, too, the place which he selects. In his account 
of this last visit of the Saviour to Gethsemane, John 
throws in a very affecting remark. He says, "And Judas 
also, which betrayed him, knew the place, for Jesus oft- 
times resorted thither with his disciples." To Judas that 
garden was a familiar spot. Thither he had often re- 
tired with Jesus, when, wearied with the toils of the 
day, he said to his disciples, "Come ye apart into this 
retreat and rest for a while." There he had often sat, 
while Jesus unbosomed himself to those he loved, There 
he had learned those lessons of wisdom which the Saviour 



Jesus and the three Disciples in Gethsemane. 71 

reserved for the twelve, to whom it was given to know 
the things of the kingdom. There he had seen the Re- 
deemer weep; had listened to the assurances of devotion 
so tenderly given to that little family ; had knelt with 
them in prayer; had joined with them in songs of praise; 
and with them had received the benedictions of his voice 
trembling with love and compassion, as they arose to de- 
part. And it is here — on this spot halloAved by snch as- 
sociations — availing himself of a knowledge thus obtained. 
— that he betrays him; betrays him with a kiss — an act 
showing that, with all the hollowness of his heart, he 
had maintained towards the Redeemer an exterior of great 
reverence and affection, and enjoyed the privilege of in- 
timate friendship. 

At first we are disposed to ask why it was necessary 
that one of Christ's disciples should deliver him into the 
hands of his enemies. He was constantly before the peo- 
ple and could have been arrested at any moment. " In 
that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come 
out as against a thief with swords and staves to take me ? 
I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid 
no hold on me." But this fact, which has -furnished oc- 
casion for many foolish cavils, is full of instruction. It 
tells us that the Gospel can be defeated only through the 
treachery of its professed friends. Until they conspire 
with its open enemies the cause of Jesus is invulnerable, 
and can defy all the malice of earth and hell. 

Our abhorrence of Judas knows no bounds when we 
consider his professions, when w 7 e recollect how he had 
so won the confidence of the apostles that they confided 
their common purse to his keeping, and when we see 
him accomplishing his infamous purpose by the know- 
ledge he had thus gained of all the recesses of the gar- 
den and all the avenues leading to it. Let us not suppose, 
however, that treachery to the Saviour died with this 
arch traitor. Jesus is still betrayed as basely as he was 
by that miscreant. Language is exhausted when we ex- 
press our detestation of the ingratitude of Judas; and 
yet in our churches we have fellowship with multitudes 
who are equally insensible to every generous feeling. 
On our communion Sabbaths they partake, not of the 



72 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

Paschal supper, but of the memorials of the Saviour's 
amazing love; and yet, (luring every clay of the week, 
they crucify him afresh by tempers and conduct which 
cause his holy name to be despised and blasphemed. It 
w r as, of course, no palliation of the crime of Judas, that 
it was over-ruled for the accomplishment of God's pur- 
pose ; such, however, was the fact. But what are the 
effects produced by the sins of those who now betray the 
truth and the cause confided to them ? What purpose 
of heaven, what purpose except that of hell can they 
fulfill? 

When w T e remember the lofty position occupied by this 
man, and then behold in him such a shocking phenome- 
non; when w r e see him conspiring with bloody murder- 
ers, volunteering to surrender his best friend into the 
hands of their vindictivene?s, and leading them at night 
where they may seize him, we stand aghast. "What 
black passion, we exclaim, can have thus empoisoned the 
heart of one who has been so long with Jesus ? What 
infernal lust has, with cankerous infection, gangrened 
the soul of a man who had acquired such a reputation for 
honesty that the common purse was left in his keeping ? 
What hideous fiend possessed him, and hurled him from 
such a pinnacle down to bottomless perdition ? My 
brethren, the passion wdiich worked in his bosom was no 
unheard of, infernal vice. He was impelled by no de- 
moniacal malignity such as rankles in the midnight 
assassin with bloodshot eyes and gory hands. The de- 
pravity which proved itself so desperate was precisely 
that which is now universal in the world. The lust 
which inflamed this son of perdition w T as exactly that 
which is now seen everywhere in the church ; which no 
discipline treats as any sin at all, which in members, 
deacons, ministers is considered quite consistent with 
great piety, provided that, like Judas, they keep up a 
character for honesty. It was avarice, the love of money; 
— the very temper which is still causing the most de- 
plorable perfidiousness in our churches ; freezing up 
every noble impulse ; opening the heart that the devil 
may enter and reign there; in short, engaging every 
faculty so deeply in the very plot of Judas, that were I 



Jesus and the three Disciples in Gethsemane. 73 

to run the parallel which I had intended while in my 
study, I would awaken more murmurs than one in this 
audience. Yes, were 1 to hold up a faithful portrait of 
this victim of covetousness trafficking his Saviour and 
his soul for filthy lucre, more than one of you now look- 
ing me in the face would be offended, w T ould accuse me 
of being personal. 

Not that avarice is the only passion which betrays 
Jesus. No, there are those whose price is not money, 
but some other gratification. " What will you give me, 
and I will betray him unto you ?" How much of sensual 
pleasure? says Voluptuousness. How much of earthly 
honor? enquires Ambition. What position, what hom- 
age, what attentions from certain circles of society ? 
asks Vanity. And so of other dispositions which are 
daily seducing into a fatal love of this world those who 
are communicants at the table of the Lord, and who 
once professed to have felt the transforming power of 
the cross of Christ. But when this arch traitor is held 
up to our abhorrence for his covetousness, the Holy 
Spirit designed especially to teach us the unsearchable 
danger of that passion, and with reason. For as the 
Scriptures declare that the love of money is the root of 
all evil, so I may say that there is no vice so prolific of 
every kind of faithlessness to the Eedeemer and his truth. 
It so absorbs the minds of multitudes of those who are 
called Christians, that they are utterly forgetful of their 
religious vows and obligations. To this insane cupidity 
they devote all their time and energy, while they refuse 
to engage in any work for Jesus. To every call, every 
entreaty appealing to their knowledge of the grace of 
the Redeemer, and seeking to enlist them in his self-de- 
nying service, they turn a deaf ear; while no sacrifice is 
painful if it be for Mammon. Covetousness would sur- 
render Christ's truth to his enemies, for it will contribute 
nothing to its defence; it hardens the heart against the 
wants and miseries of the poor — the peculiar representa- 
tives of Jesus ; it defeats one grand design of the Gospel, 
which seeks to reunite all men in the bonds of a new 
and holy brotherhood; it assails all those enterprises of 
love which the mission of the Saviour has inaugurated, 



74 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

and upon thesuccess of which its triumphs are suspended. 
In short, if the character of Judas-is odious because at 
such a time, and in such a place, he could be guilty of 
such perfidiousness, the picture still finds its original in 
many professed disciples who pretend to execrate 'him as 
the most abandoned of wretches, yet who on the Sabbath, 
in the sanctuary, even when receiving the supper, carry 
in their bosoms an idol which they worship, which even 
there predominates supremely in their affections, steel- 
ing them against every plea of benevolence, and to which 
they are ready at any moment, to immolate the honor 
and interests of Him who for them abdicated the riches 
of heaven, and became so poor that he had not where to 
lay his head. 

I know that those who surrender themselves to this 
base lust are always ready enough with excuses ; and do 
you think that Judas did not thus seek to deceive others, 
if not himself? Eecall his conduct on a former occasion ; 
— an occasion, by the 'way, which finely illustrates the 
contrast we often see between the noble generosity of 
women, and the sordid meanness so common in the other 
sex, (a contrast sometimes most striking because it exists 
in the same family, w T here the wife, like Abigail, has to 
do good by stealth, that she may elude the niggardly 
selfishness of the "churl Nabal " to whom she is miser- 
ably allied); I refer to the breaking of the box of oint- 
ment with which a woman embalmed the Saviour's feet. 
The very sight of such a costly perfume inflamed the 
avarice of Iscariot. Had the casket been given to Jesus, 
it would have come into his hands as part of the com- 
mon fund which he kept, and his prurient appetite in- 
stinctively calculates how much he could have embezzled 
in selling it. But does he confess to himself this dis- 
gusting cupidity ? Not at all. It is thrift, a regard for 
the suffering poor which causes him to regret such ex- 
travagance He is visited all of a sudden by a pang of 
the most disintcrcskd charity, and asks, " Why was not 
this cinln cut sold for three hundred pence and given to 
the poor ?" 

In that case Judas had his specious pretext; and now 
in his infamous conspiracy with the priests let no one 



Jesus and the three Disciples in Gethsemane. 75 

believe that he unblushingly avowed to his own con- 
science the crime he had consented to perpetrate for 
thirty pieces of silver. If he understood the language 
of Jesus as to his death, he might say to himself, "This 
death is necessary for man's salvation ; it is decreed by 
God ; how then can I be culpable ? Nay am 1 not ful- 
filling the divine purposes?" I see, my brethren, that 
this argument shocks you, but I tell you that there is no 
sophistry too monstrous for a man blinded by an inordi- 
nate passion. I do not suppose, however, that the cor- 
rupt heart of this traitor could for a moment have com- 
prehended anything as to the sublime tragedy in which 
he was so prominent an actor; but still how many re- 
fuges and pleas he might have found for his avarice. 

"Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw 
that he was condemned, repented himself." This lan- 
guage implies that he had quieted himself by the hope 
of his escape. He knew the great popularity which 
Jesus had acquired by his deeds of mercy; the multitude 
would rise up and rescue him. Pilate was secretly dis- 
posed to favor him; he would interpose. He had more 
than once eluded his enemies when in their hands ; he 
will do so again. God will not permit his innocent blood 
to be shed; has he not given his angels charge concern- 
ing him? Let the worst come, he can by a miracle de- 
feat his executioners; and thus while I pocket my gains 
— his credentials will be more abundantly vindicated. 
Again, my brethren, I perceive by your countenances 
what you think of this sort of logic. But again I tell 
you that no self-deception is too gross for a darling lust. 
Again I affirm, that this reasoning in Judas would not 
have been more subversive of all morality, that it would 
have been far more plausible, than the pretexts with 
which we now every day see misers in the church violat- 
ing their solemn obligations, palliating their faithlessness 
to Jesus and his cause. 

Indeed, there was in Judas one trait which redeems 
him from our unmitigated abhorrence, and causes us to 
regard him with pity — I had almost said with respect; 
nay, I do say with respect when he is compared with 



76 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



those traitors of whom I am now speaking. I allude, of 
course to his repentance. No sooner did he discover the 
fatal consequences of his treachery, than he w r as filled 
with remorse ; he hastened to the chief priests, saying, 
"I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent 
blood, and he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple 
and departed." From the slaves of avarice in our churches 
when do we ever hear such an acknowledgement? The 
deepest disgrace is inflicted upon the name of Christ by 
a covetousness which makes them a by-word in the com- 
munity. If left to them, the interests of Jesus would 
be utterly ruined by a love of filthy lucre, either undis- 
guised, or what is almost baser still, concealed by pre- 
tenses which deceive nobody. Yet they never blush for 
shame, they are conscious of no guilt in clinging with 
unremitting tenacity to everything they can grasp. 

Nor does Judas only confess, he makes all the repara- 
tion in his power, by casting from him in horror the 
price of his treachery ; but who ever heard of one such 
instance of compunctious visiting among the baptized 
Judases in our churches? For my part, although I 
have been in the ministry twenty-five years, I have never 
witnessed such a miracle ; and if I should continue in 
the ministry for a hundred years, I have no hope that 
my eyes will ever behold such a phenomenon, my ears 
ever hear such a marvel. I have attended the death-beds 
of multitudes of people, but I never saw one who made 
restitution to God or man. Among these have been some 
who had amassed fortunes by means well known to every- 
body; but not one has ever confessed his cupidity — and 
disgorged even an infinitesimal fraction of his dishonest 
gains. Not a few 7 have been professed Christians, with 
whose penuriousness I was quite familiar; having, as 
their pastor, been compelled to see its debasing, deplor- 
able influence over them. In these, at least, I have ex- 
pected to detect some contrition. I have thought that 
they would acknowledge their robbery of God — their de- 
linquency to the cause of Christ, and would seek, by 
restitution, to prepare to meet a Judge who has declared 
that "no covetous man shall enter the kingdom of hea- 
ven." But these anticipations have always been vain. — 



Jesus and the three Disciples in Gethsemane. 77 

This fruit meet for repentance I have never seen. On 
the contrary, I have found such unfaithful stewards — 
while willing to provide for debts which human tribunals 
would enforce— while over-anxious' to secure to their 
children possessions which as long as they could they had 
kept in their own unrelenting grasp — entirely forgetful 
of God, of his claims, and of the fearful reckoning ac- 
cumulated against them for a periidiousness so base, per- 
sisted in for so many years, and in spite of so many solemn 
warnings. 

IT. I pass, now, to a second reflection suggested by our 
text. It is that while the false friends of Jesus betray 
him, his true friends are strangely, criminally asleep. — 
When the Saviour said, "One of you shall betray me," 
his disciples were "exceeding sorrowful;" and we, my 
brethren, would choose to die rather than betray him who 
is so precious to us, rather than ignominiously conspire 
with his foes. But, now, is this enough ? If we love 
Christ ought we not, with Elijah, to be jealous for his 
glory and very zealous in defending his honor? Instead 
of this what is the fact? If some imitate the treachery 
of Judas, do we not, most of us, resemble the three other 
apostles, whose remissness, after such repeated admoni- 
tions, seems almost as perfidious ? 

I would not press this thought too far. I know there 
may be a good heart, with a bad constitution. Though 
a Christian is "not of the world," he is in it, and its 
cares and distractions may abate the ardors of his devo- 
tion. I remember that even the wise virgins " slumbered 
and slept ;" and that not only here in the garden at 
night, but upon the mount of transfiguration at noonday, 
sleep oppressed these three apostles who afterwards 
braved toil, danger and death for Jesus. I make all due 
allowance for the infirmities of our nature. But let no 
one pervert such a concession into a plea for lukewarm- 
ness. He who walketh in the midst of the golden 
candlesticks has warned us that apostasy itself is, in 
some respects, less injurious to his cause than lukewarm- 
ness. When facing the enemy, the soldier who refuses 
to fight is a traitor as well as he who deserts ; and he is 



78 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

something more, he is a coward. The wise virgins were 
overtaken by slumber, but it was because they were 
wearied with watching for the bridegroom ; and when 
he came, their lamps were trimmed and burning. Would 
the Lord thus find us, should he this moment appear? 
The apostles slept, but it was because nature had been 
exhausted by sorrow and sympathy with Jesus, (Luke, 
xxii: 45.). Is this the cause of our supineness ? JSio, no ; 
our apathy proceeds from a want of love for the Ke- 
deemer and his cause. We do not sleep when danger 
threatens an object dear to our hearts, when our inter- 
ests, or actions, or family are assailed. If the world and 
the passions have drawn others entirely away, the same 
baneful influences have infected our souls, and left scarce- 
ly a vestige of that loyalty which ought to be ever most 
vigilant and sensitive when the honor of the Gospel is 
imperilled. 

We feel at once the affectionate confidence reposed in 
these three apostles, when the Saviour thus takes them 
with him into the garden, and comes again and again to 
them in his anguish. JSIow the same thing takes place 
as to us. To us he still looks; in us he still confides. 
His tears, prayers, agony in the garden have ceased, but 
if these are to triumph, if he is to see of the travail of 
his soul, we must be faithful. " Christ loved theehurch 
and gave himself for it." His spiritual body is far more 
precious in his eyes than that human form which he as- 
sumed and which Judas betrayed. This church, with 
its interests, its truths, its ordinances, its ministry, is 
now upon earth; it is, too, incessantly assailed by open 
or secret hostility; and it is committed to our keeping 
with the most unbounded reliance that we will, in watch- 
fulness and prayerf illness, prove ourselves faithful to 
such a charge. 

We are amazed that after so many warnings and en- 
treaties, the apostles could sleep; but let us not expend 
our censures upon them. The same thing takes place 
now. Over and over Jesus says to us, ''Watch and pray, 
that ye enter not into temptation;" nor do we not hear 
and revere his voice; yet how ineffectual are his admon- 
itions. In a region of sin and danger, — the air and the 



Jesus anithe three Disciples in Gethsemanc. 79 



earth swarming with foes. — so much perfidy in the 
church conspiring wir.h the enmity of the world; — yet 
we can be heavy with slumber. Like Peter, we have 
again and again vowed that, though all should forsake 
him, Jesus and his cause should have our undying de- 
votion ; yet we are asleep. Like John, we love this ador- 
able Redeemer, and have felt as we leaned upon his bo- ' 
som, that our ardors could never languish; yet we sleep; 
— sleep while his enemies are sleepless in devising mis- 
chief against him. We are awake, keenly alive to every 
eartnly concern ; but for Christ, his truth and glory, we 
find our melancholy portrait in these three perfidious sen- 
tinels; — the night around them too faithful an image of 
the darkness of our minds; — the chilling air which be- 
numbed their blood, an emblem of that coldness which 
causes our spiritual pulses to stagnate ; — their deep sleep 
a type of that lethargy which paralyses our activity, our 
faith, our zeal, our love. 

And as we have seen the Man of Sorrows go more than 
once to these disciples, rousing them to a sense of their 
danger and duty, so he now deals with us. Tenderly, 
lovingly, yet upbraidingly, he comes to us and says, 
"Can ye not watch with me one hour?" This is his lan- 
guage when he afflicts us. He then recalls us to a con- 
sciousness of his love, of our vows, and of our unfaithful- 
ness. He quickens our faith, dissipates those illusions 
which were engrossing our affections, and in our inmost 
souls he whispers, " Watch and pray, lest ye enter into 
temptation." In the deaths of those around us, this is 
what Jesus is saying. He is reminding us that time is 
short ; that the period in which we can watch and pray 
and work will soon be over; and he asks, if, with eternity 
before us in which to rest, we can find this little hour too 
much to devote to him? In the examples of those who 
have lived and are living nobly for God, he asks this ques- 
tion. He asks us, whether we have not the same powers, 
the same years, months, weeks, days; why have we not 
as earnestly improved and redeemed them ? We admire 
their character and conduct, yet sacrifice to trifles and 
waste in sloth this fleeting time, these precious energies. 
Bv the zeal of the children of this world Jesus seeks to 
ii 4 



80 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

quicken the children of light. We are humbled as we 
observe the contrast between the apostles and the foes of 
the Redeemer. Those sleep. These — Judas, the priests, 
the scribes — are too eager to think of slumber. The love 
of his chosen friends cannot watch one hour; but during 
all that eventful night the malice of his enemies is rest- 
lessly at work. We see the same contrast now. Seek- 
ing to gratify their sinful passions, or, at best, pursuing 
objects comparatively worthless, carnal men are indefati- 
gable. With heaven before us, with objects at hand 
which might inflame the souls of archangels, we are soon 
weary in well-doing, and relapse into indolence. 

Nor is it only by the voice of reproof and expostulation 
that Jesus seeks to rouse us to prayer and vigilance. By 
how many mercies, by what tokens of love does he not 
beseech us to cast off this unworthy inaction and to 
give him the loyalty and zeal which we confess are due 
to him. "Can ye not watch with me?" After the solemn 
dedication you have made, with such claims as mine up- 
on your sympathy and deTotion, must I still have to ut- 
ter this complaint? During long years I stooped to pov- 
erty for you, I prayed and wept for yon. For yon I wel- 
comed hatred, contempt, hunger, thirst, persecution, pain. 
For you I groaned and sobbed in the garden, and. poured 
out my blood on the cross. And "can you not watch 
with me one hour?" "You, for whom I endured so many 
days and nights of weariness and sorrow; yon whom I 
have rescued from such an abyss and raised to such glo- 
rious hopes; you whom I have so distinguished by my 
mercy and grace; you whom 1 have chosen as my friends, 
to whom I have confided my truth, my interests upon 
earth, and who have so often professed your undying at- 
tachment ; you, 0, cannot you watch with me one hour? 
If Jesus had reason to upbraid his disciples, he has much 
greater reason to condemn us; and but that his compas- 
sions fail not, we had long since been cast off forever. 

III. The third truth which the narrative before us 
ought to impress upon our minds is very melancholy; 
and it is especially solemn at this time, when Ave are at 
the close of another year. I refer to the irreparable 



Jesus and the three Disciples in Gethsemane. 81 

losses we have suffered by sleeping, when we ought to 
have been awake. 

In the wilderness the angel ministered to Jesus only 
after his victory. In the garden the heavenly visitant 
strengthened him in the midst of the conflict, so terrible 
was the agony. Still, however, he craved human sympa- 
thy and support. Hence he not only seeks comfort in 
opening his soul to his three disciples before his anguish 
began, but he places them in his neighborhood, saying, 
" Tarry ye here with me." Do not leave me; the sense 
of your presence here will support me in my tribulation. 

Seeing, moreover, how intensely the hour and power of 
darkness would oppress him, and that its influence would 
fall upon them, he adds the second admonition to watch 
and pray. When he comes to them the third time, and 
finds them sleeping, he addresses them in language which 
at first seems inexplicable, but which in fact is full of 
meaning. " Sleep on now and take your rest, behold the 
hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the 
hands of sinners." 

That there is irony in this language I do not deny; but 
it is not what is generally so termed. The whole tenor 
of his conduct that night forbids every thought of anger 
and severity. There is, however, an irony of sorrowful 
gentleness and tenderness; and such are his words. It 
is the complaint of the Man of griefs, the pitying reproof 
of the compassionate Eedeemer who in the conduct of his 
dearest friends feels a new sorrow added to those which 
already oppressed his soul. It is enough, he says, it is 
all over ; I charged you to watch and pray with me, but 
you have been unfaithful. As far as I am concerned, 
your waking or sleeping matters nothing now. The hour 
is passed when your sympathy, vigilance, prayers could 
avail anything ; they would be too late now. While you 
slept, treachery has triumphed; and this night I must 
be the victim of those who thirst for my blood. 

Such, my brethren, is the explanation of language 
which at first seems strange; and this explanation turns 
the edge of the rebuke sharply and directly upon us all. 
For while Jesus has been warning us to watch and pray, 
we have been asleep; and by this faithlessness how much 



82 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

has been lost and lost forever; how much for the church, 
for those perishing around us in the world, for our 
families, for our own souls. 

Time has been lost, and who can appreciate this loss ? 
Do we value gold and silver on account of the good they 
can purchase, and the evil they can prevent? Everlast- 
ing happiness or misery depend upon the use we make of 
time. Does the scarcity of an article cause it to be pre- 
cious r* The work we have to do in preparing for eterni- 
ty must be do-ne in time, and that " time is short," — a 
handbreath — a span — a little moment. While the whole 
of life is thus brief, our days may be cut off at any in- 
stant; how highly, then, should we prize the time we 
have. Yet how much of this little brief life have we 
wasted in indolence and worldliness ; nor can w T e recover 
what has thus passed from us. Other losses may be re- 
paired by pains and diligence ; but this is irretrievable. 
As far as the past is concerned we may sleep on now and 
take our rest; no prayers, no regrets, no tears, can bring 
it back again. The memory of it may be redolent of 
joy, or poisoned with remorse, but the memory of it is 
all that stays with us. As Jesus is seized and borne 
away by the band, I see the three apostles looking on in 
bitterness; I hear them upbraiding themselves, saying, 
Had we only been faithful, he could not thus have been 
surprised ; wretches that we are, his blood is upon us. 
Nay, — recalling his vows and stung by the sense of his 
perlidiousness — the earnestness of Peter's remorse — who 
seeks to repair the mischief, and single handed he attacks 
the band that he might rescue him; but it was too late. 
And, so, as we see the precious days, months, years 
carried away, our consciences may condemn us. Had 
we but been true to Christ, temptation could not have 
overcome us, passion and sin would have been conquered, 
and how different would have been the retrospect. Be- 
pentance may work in us indignation, vehement desire, 
zeal, revenge ; — all, however, is in vain. We can look 
back to different periods once in our possession, but 
omnipotence itself cannot restore them to us. 



* " And the word of the Lord was precious" (or very scarce) 
" in those days." — 1 Samuel iii: 1. 



Jesus and tlie three Disciples in Gethsemane. 83 

In having occupied another whole year, we have had a 
treasure put into our hands which we had no right to 
expect. Many, many have passed to the grave who be- 
gan the year with us, and with as fair prospects of see- 
ing its dose. We are still here, but they are gone, and 
the year is gone. Its deeds are among the archives of 
eternity, the seal of God has been set hermetically upon 
them. Some portion of the record we now would wish 
altered, but that is impossible. As, while the apostles 
were locked in sleep, the critical hour glided stealthily 
awa\ r , so, while w r e have been held in idleness, worldli- 
ness, wickedness, a vast number of minutes, hours, 
days have slipped from us; and soon the inevitable mo- 
ment will arrive, when for us time shall be no more, 
when we shall review all our years as a tale that is told, 
as a dream when one avvaketh. 

With time many advantages have been lost and lost 
irrecoverably. During that eventful hour in the garden, 
while the apostles were wrapped in ignominious slumber, 
with what love, with what vigilance, with what strong 
cryings, with what weeping, groans, blood, was the Ke- 
deemer drinking the cup, subjecting himself to all his 
Father's will, agonizing for our salvation. And while 
we have slept, others have been improving every op- 
portunity. They have been inflamed with love ; they 
have been struggling with their corruptions and habits ; 
they have been adjusting their hearts and lives to the 
will of God concerning them ; they have wept for them- 
selves, for their families, for a ruined world ; they have 
" cried and sighed for the wickedness that is done in the 
land." In the spirit of self-sacrifice they have lived for 
Jesus ; they have been strong in prayer and in faith ; 
lighting the good fight of faith, laying hold on eternal 
life, to w T hich they have been called. 

Oh, that we had thus crucified the flesh with its affec- 
tions and lusts ; that we had thus loved and lived ; but 
our lamentations are now unavailing. The Koman cen- 
turion could say to his soldiers, " Come," and they came. 
" Go," and they went. Not so we and our opportunities. 
Our selfishness and indolence made them depart; they 
have left us to return never a^ain. And if our hearts 



84 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

are in a proper frame, we will recollect them with the 
feelings which would overwhelm us in visiting the grave 
of a benefactor whom we had wronged ; — the fresh turf 
of which we would water with our tears ; while our souls 
would bitterly " wish backward;" exclaiming, would he 
could return, that we might make some reparation, that 
at least we might be assured of his forgiveness. 

Feeling all the unsearchable artfulness and malignity 
of the foe, and knowing the weakness of the flesh even 
when the spirit is willing, Jesus especially exhorted his 
disciples to watch and pray that they might not enter 
into temptation; and such has been his admonition to 
us every hour ; — for every hour is to us one of danger. 
Have we obeyed him? Alas, it is with the most sub- 
stantial mortification we have to answer that question. 
Instead of unremitting vigilance, we know how often we 
have been careless, how little of earnest conscientious 
wakefulness has been ours. And we know, too, that, 
owing to this loose, dishevelled, heedless state of our 
souls, we have not only often been exposed to temptation, 
but we have been surprised by our corruptions in some 
unguarded moment. Well it is for us that One has 
been watching over us with ever wakeful solicitude 
while we slept. 

And w^ell is it that One — whose intercessions cannot 
fail — has been supplicating for us. Well for the holiest, 
that there is an Advocate who says, "Simon, Simon, 
Satan hath desired to have thee, that lie might sift thee 
as wheat, but I have prayed for thee." Prayer; my 
brethren, what is not promised to prayer; above all, 
what can be denied to the prayer of faith enforced by 
the potency, the talismanic virtue of the name which 
now makes us omnipotent in wrestling with God. 
Patriarchs and prophets were mighty in prayer. By 
prayer Abraham arrested the angels at the gate of Sodom, 
and disarmed them. By prayer Joshua stopped the sun 
in his course, and commanded his light. By prayer 
Elijah shut up and opened the heavens. But the 
humblest Christian has now a charm which was unknown 
to prophet and patriarch. " Whatsoever ye shall ask 
in my name, that will 1 do." u If ye shall ask anything 



Jesus and the three Disciples in Gethsemane. 85 



in my name I will do it/'' "Hitherto ye have asked 
nothing in my name; ask and ye shall receive, that 
yctir joy may be full." In this name had we prayed 
without ceasing, what holiness, what superiority to the 
world, what victorious light and strength would now re- 
joice our hearts. 

burden of prayer, which ought to press constantly 
upon our souls. spirit of watchfulness, which ought 
to arm us with unsleeping jealousy; ought to give the 
alarm at the least appearance of evil; ought to cause us 
to resemble sentinels at night in an enemy's country, 
who sound every spot where the foe might lurk, and 

challenge even the fall of a leaf; my brethren, there 

is not one of us who does not say with the dying Sut- 
ciifTe, " Would that I had prayed more;" not one who 
does not deplore the want of this ever sensitive circum- 
spection. But it is now too late ; all our regrets must 
be fruitless. Xor is it possible to tell what may have 
been the consequences of our neglect; what injury the 
cause of Christ may have sustained by our remissness ; 
wiiat the church, Adiat those we love, what our own souls 
may have suffered. 

IV. But, while all this is most true, and as sad as 
true, let us not be disheartened. Even from our losses 
we may gather lessons of inestimable value. If reflec- 
tion cannot restore the past, it can make us wiser for the 
future. Through our carelessness the flames have con- 
sumed our treasures ; but among the ashes may be found 
pieces of gold and silver purified by the fire. And this 
is the truth I derive from the last words in our text, — 
from the exhortation, " Eise, Jet us be going." As to 
the past it is forever gone ; watching and praying are of 
no avail ; but the future is before us; let us address our- 
selves to that with all earnestness and diligence. 

" That which is crooked cannot be made straight, and 
that which is wanting cannot be numbered." It is true 
wisdom to let irremediable evils alone; otherwise we 
waste our time and energies to no purpose. Our duty is 
to improve the present at once ; if we delay, we will suf- 
fer other losses. That so much is gone, ought to stir us 



86 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

up to value what remains; for, while the time has been 
shortened, we have the same work to perform. Soon, — 
on our death-beds, and in eternity, — we shall know the 
preciousness of time ; but then it will be too late. Let 
us now be wise. Forgetting the things that are behind, 
let us press toward the mark, for the prize of the high 
calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

Let us rise and be going. Too long have our thoughts, 
feelings, affections been entangled in this world ; it is 
high time to be loosening them, to be fixing them upon 
heaven, with our loins girded and our lights burning to 
be "like men who wait for their Lord, that when he 
cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him imme- 
diately." 

Let us rise and be going. If we cannot go back and 
overtake the past, w r e can anticipate the future, and se- 
cure a rich harvest of blessings by what we now sow. — 
"To morrow walks in to-day," and with both hands offers 
us fresh opportunities; let us seize them w 7 ith a zeal ren- 
dered indefatigable by our past experiences, "redeeming 
the time because the days are evil. 

Let us rise and be going. How long will we sit thus 
idle ? So much to be done for Jesus, for the church, for 
the world, for our own growth in grace and holiness, and 
so little time left in which to do it; with such short lives, 
with eternity — its endless existence, its rewards, joys, 
horrors, just before us, can we subside into supineness and 
worldliness ? 

Let us rise and be going. We have slej)t when the 
alarm was sounding ; when the cry of the watchman on 
the walls, when the call of the Kedeemer, when the 
warning of the Spirit in our bosoms, when voices from 
time and eternity, from earth and heaven and hell, were 
all bidding us to watch and pray. Enough of this, enough 
of drowsiness and dreaming; we must now shake these 
off, put on the w T hole armor of God, and rouse ourselves 
to obey the high calling of God in Christ Jesus; " Watch- 
ing unto prayer;" praying to him who watches over us, 
that he may keep us ever watchful. 

But I will never have done pressing upon you this 
solemn exhortation, so often renewed and yet so little 



Jesus and the ihr e Disciples in Gethsemane. 8? 

heeded. Let me only remind you, that if von will 
sleep on, eternity must soon break in and smite this slug- 
gishness with its terrors; and then you will sleep no 
more; then, when all too late, you will "wake to shame 
and everlasting contempt;" nor can any opiate ever still 
the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. 

To those who have hitherto been neglecting the great 
salvation, the truth just urged comes with intense em- 
phasis. Life is full of crises in which souls are lost; it 
is a scene in which perils lie in ambush all around you ; 
and Jesus bids you stand upon your guard and secure the 
succors he proposes If you suffer temptation to assail 
you in carelessness and prayerlessness, you are undone 
forever. Awake to your danger and your duty. In the 
spirit of the prodigal say, " I will arise and go to my Fa- 
ther." Your past has been spent in folly and sin; you 
have wasted your substance in riotous living; but you 
will still be welcome. And can it be necessary for me to 
urge motives upon you? While for you the tears of the 
Son of God are falling fast from his agonized soul, while 
the night is tremulous with his sobs and groans and 
cries, while he is pouring out his blood in the garden 
and upon the cross, can you be unmoved ? can you re- 
main in the ranks of those who hate him, who are band- 
ed together as the enemies of his cause on the earth ? 0, 
to-day a voice from heaven warns you that, while you say, 
Peace and safety, sudden destruction cometh upon you. 
It calls you to rise and be going. It tells you that life 
is going, that the day of grace is going, that the opportu- 
nity for salvation is going, that they will all soon be 
gone, that soon you must die ; and then forever farewell 
the things which belong to your peace ; farewell Sabbaths 
and sermons ; farewell the prayers of pious friends, 
wives, children, parents ; farewell the promises, the con- 
solations of the Gospel ; farewell heaven and hope forever. 

But the truth before us is especially for Christians. 
To us, my brethren, Jesus says, "Kise, let us go." He 
seeks to rouse us up thoroughly to things which might 
shake the sheeted dead from their repose. The soul, 
salvation, perdition, death, the judgment, heaven, hell, 
a fallen w 7 orld sinking into the gulf, a divine victim 
ii 4* 



Richard Fullers Sermons. 



expiring, — these, these confront us. Where can be found 
such arguments to raise us above sloth and selfishness ? 
What can make us serious, if these fail ? 

Nor only serious. We are summoned to activity, to 
co-operate with Jesus. True, God's will shall be done, 
whether Ave wake or sleep; but God's will must be done 
by us, if we are to be Christians. The apostles could 
not save him, but they could suffer with him; and we 
are called, by toil, and self-denial, and sacrifice, to be 
" partakers of his sufferings," to fill up that which is 
behind of the afflictions of Christ/' Eise, then, let us 
go. We are not in darkness, that that day should over- 
take us as a thief. We are all the children of light, and 
the children of the day ; we are not of the night, nor of 
darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as do others, but 
let us watch and be sober; putting on the breast-plate 
of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 
Eise, let us go. The Master is come and calleth for us. 
The night is far spent. The morning light is breaking. 
The reveille is beating. Around us is a cloud of wit- 
nesses; — apostles, who have trampled under foot the 
glories of earth ; martyrs, who amidst flames and scaf- 
folds, have testified for the truth ; saints, who still are 
meekly suffering and sacrificing; — these have been faith- 
ful, and Ave are to imitate their faith and patience. To- 
day, let us rise and go to our work. To-morrow, we will 
rise and go to our reward. To-morrow, death will come, 
and to our waiting souls his coming will be welcome ; 
and in our ravished ears he will whisper this message — 
The time of your probation is over, the time of your 
departure is at hand ; — rise, let us be going. I am come 
to bear you to that home in which there will be no need 
of watching and praying, to that rest w r hich will be all 
the sweeter for the toil, to that crown which will be all 
the brighter for the conflict. 



The, Law an I the Gospel. 89 



Sermon Jftttli. 



THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL. 

" For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, 
God sending- his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, 
condemned sin in the flesh : that the righteousness of the law might be 
fulfilled in us, who walknot after the flesh, but after the Spirit."— Rom. 
viii : 3, 4. 

EVEN in human governments, great emergencies and 
the expedients devised to meet them, are objects 
of profound interest. With what intense concern, then, 
ought we to contemplate that crisis in God's administra- 
tion which involved the destiny of our race and the amaz- 
ing scheme by which this difficulty was adjusted. 

Everything in the history of man is strange and mys- 
terious — his creation, his apostasy, above all his redemp- 
tion. A previous celestial tragedy teaches as that a vio- 
lation of the divine law at once works irremediable con- 
clusions; but in the case of this planet there was a supra- 
judicial interference. The guilt and corruption of its 
entire population admit of no sort of doubt; yet not only 
is punishment respited, but there are tokens for good, 
signatures and symptoms of mercy and salvation which 
cannot be mistaken. It is to this wonderful interposi- 
tion —an interposition represented in the Sacred Writings 
as tasking the wisdom and power of Jehovah — that our 
attention is this day invited. 

I. In elucidating our text, we must first enquire what 
is meant, when it is affirmed that the law is "weak through 
the flesh/' In itself, I need not say that no infirmity can 
be ascribed to the law of God. Its inherent strength and 



90 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

virtue can never be impaired. " Of law " — such is Hook- 
er's thoughtful and noble language — "there can be no 
less acknowledged than that her seat is in the bosom of 
God; her voice the harmony of the world; all things in 
heaven and earth do her homage, the very least as feeling 
her care, and the greatest as not exempt from her power; 
both angels and creatures of what condition soever, tho' 
each in different sort and manner, admiring her as the 
mother of peace and joy." 

Now as the true glory of all intelligent beings is obe- 
dience to law — self-restraint, and not the freedom some 
speak of, (for what liberty has an angel but that of doing 
God's will ?) — and as the law of the Lord is perfect, man's 
highest dignity, as his only happiness, must be in con- 
formity to the law. But humanity is fallen. Our nature, 
once spiritual, is now degenerated and degraded. "The 
flesh " — that is, our corrupt passions — has enslaved the 
soul ; and thus the law — though admirably efficient to 
regulate anu uphold unfallen beings — is enfeebled of its 
capacity when addressing itself to the. children of earth. 
The most prolific seed will be fruitless if sown in ashes; 
the grain is vigorous in itself, but it is weak through the 
soil. The most wholesome food Avill impart no nourish- 
ment if received into a system unfitted to digest it; the 
diet is nutritious, but it is weak through the diseased or- 
ganism. The tube may be perfect, and the light perfect, 
and the artist a master of his science; but if the plate 
be not prepared, the daguerreotypist can obtain no pic- 
ture. The instrument is not deficient in itself, it is de- 
feated by the object upon which it would trace its images. 
In short, Phidias himself may hold the chisel; but what 
can he do if, instead of the Parian marble from which he 
may disclose the warm breathing statue, he works upon a 
lump of dirt that crumbles at every touch ? He is weak, 
dishonored, his consummate skill and exquisite concep- 
tions are reduced to utter mockery by the materials 
which he seeks to fashion. 

To be more particular: "the flesh" has weakened and 
well nigh obliterated all sense of the law, all impressions 
of the law upon our conscience, so that the world is 
"without God" as to any practical recognition of his 



Th? Li'u anl the Gjxjrl. 91 



morn! government. That they are under 1mm an govern- 
ment, all feel. From the first dawn of reason the child 
naturally obeys the authority of the parent. In every 
state there is the lawgiver, and responsibility to law is the 
first universal instinct, — the lowest and the highest in the 
realm bowing to its sovereignty. And so in all the re- 
lations of life, between masters and servants, husbands 
and wives, guardians and wards — duty, obligation are 
innate and habitual. But God is nobody to the great 
mass of human beings. His laws, his administration and 
the penalties by which that administration asserts its 
authority — where are the people who naturally acknow- 
ledge these ? 

We need not enter into any discussion as to the import 
of the word " law," as it is here us2d. It means the re- 
vealed will of God; and all possess this. We have it in 
the Sacred Volume; and the heathen, as the Apostle de- 
clares, carry it written in their own consciences; but 
what abiding recognition is there of this law among man- 
kind ? To holy beings it is a source of unspeakable de- 
light to live in harmony with God, in all things to have 
his will clearly delineated. Very different is the spirit 
of an apostate world. Some boldly substitute their own 
will for the commands of the Supreme Lawgiver; either 
denying his existence, or rejecting all revelation of his 
will. Some bury themselves in the cares and dissipations 
of business or pleasure, thus shunning reflection as the 
culprit skulks from the office r who would arrest him. — 
Some cavil and refine away the stringency and spirituali- 
ty of the law ; accommodating its perfections to their 
passions. Some take refuge in their own weakness ; 
others in vague conceptions of the mercy of God. And 
thus it has come to pass that, look where we may, an as- 
tounding phenomenon meets the eye: we see the world 
existing as if there were no God ; or as if there were a 
God, but a God without one of the prerogatives and at- 
tributes of a Moral Ruler ; without justice or holiness — 
without government or law. All around us we behold 
multitudes who in every act, word, thought, have to do 
directly with the Governor of all the earth, who are 
hastening to the tribunal of the Judge of all the earth ; 



92 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

and are yet wholly insensible of this fearful responsibility ; 
men observing, studying, discussing, respecting all other 
laws — the laws by which matter is controlled, by which 
mind is regulated, by which the blood circulates, and 
the winds blow, and the tides rise and fall, and the grass 
springs, and insects multiply, and dirt coheres; men 
piercing the earth, fathoming the sea, expatiating through 
the skies, questioning the remotest star, tormenting with 
relentless scrutiny the minutest asteroid, tracking the 
flight of the comet, arresting the lightning, exploring the 
flaming abysses of the sun, and investigating the laws by 
which all these are regulated ; but entirely forgetting 
that moral law which pervades the secret recesses of their 
hearts, which surrounds them everywhere and still holds 
them in its grasp, whether they ascend np into heaven, 
or make their bed in hell, or dwell in the uttermost parts 
of the sea, or shrond themselves in the thickest darkness; 
men having no sense of accountability to God as the Su- 
preme Lawgiver, acting with no reference to the appro- 
bation or displeasure of that Being whose eye is ever upon 
them, compared with whose glances the concentrated gaze 
of a gathered universe would be only as the stupid stare 
of an idiot ; living with no reference to the sentence he 
will pronounce ; spending their days, in short, as if the 
earth were absolved from the jurisdiction of Jehovah and 
no more under his dominion. Xot, indeed, that this in- 
sensibility is never disturbed ; every one knows better. 

There are times when this deep lethargy of unrenewed 
nature will be broken; when conscience will no longer 
be stupified or trifled with ; when the most reckless will 
be forced to feel that there is another rule he ought to 
obey, and not his own selfish and corrupt inclinations. — 
But what then ? What is the effect of the light wliich 
then breaks in ? Housed from his apathy, compelled to 
see his own guilt, to tremble at the purity and inexorable 
severity of the law of God, the transgressor feels that his 
way is perilous and will be fatal ; but alas, he only fur- 
nishes another exemplification of the weakness of the law 
through the flesh. The passions which had before ex- 
cluded all sense of the law, now only irritate him against 
it, and prevent his seeing its beauty and perfection. To 



The Law and the Gospel. 93 



holy beings law and love are synonymous terms. But 
unconverted man hates the law which Hashes vengeance 
on his darling sins; hates God, whom he impeaches for 
having enacted laws so opposed to his passions, or, for 
giving him passions so opposed to his laws; and even 
while conscience condemns his courses, he loves them and 
clings to them. He had lived without the law once. — 
Now it is brought to bear upon him, but only to show 
that it has no hold on bis affections; only to prove with 
what rooted aversion his whole nature — appetites, in- 
clinations, tastes, passions — repels the spirituality of the 
law, with what tenacity his heart cleaves to objects sen- 
sual and depraved. 

You perceive, then, that the law is weak through the 
flesh, not only because the passions have expunged the 
natural recognition of God's government, but because 
when the commandment comes home to the unregenerate 
heart, it only betrays the lodged antipathy to obedience 
and holiness. Even this, however, is not all. The im- 
potency of the law is only more deplorably betrayed after 
the influences just ascribed to the flesh have been re- 
moved. For let indifference give way to the deepest con- 
victions; let hatred to the law be changed into ardent de- 
sires after holiness; what then? Why, humanity, 
fallen and enervated, has no power to obey the law ; "it 
is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." 
It perceives, indeed, the beauty, spirituality, perfection of 
the law ; and as it contemplates that sphere of purity, 0, 
how it longs to ascend there — how it pines to regain that 
lost paradise. Her eyes opened by the Holy Spirit to 
take in "the beauties of holiness," with what yearnings 
does not the soul thirst, pant after stainless perfection. — 
But it is a reach wholly inaccessible; and that beautiful, 
finished model which the law now displays, only proves 
more clearly how weak, how impotent it is to elevate a 
single child of Adam to its sublime and faultless stand- 
ard. " 1 was alive without the law once, but when the 
commandment came, sin revived and 1 died." 

My friends, the truth I am now urging is one which 
many of us can attest from our own experience ; for we 
can recall the time when we groaned under its burden ; 



94 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

when — in spite of our convictions, our ardent desires, 
our imploring prayers, our solemn resolutions and vows 
— we still found ourselves bound hand and foot by the 
passions, enslaved by the flesh, — our minds enslaved, our 
wills enslaved, our hearts enslaved, our conduct enslaved. 
And if at any time we seemed to have escaped the cor- 
ruption of the flesh, we resembled a strong swimmer re- 
ceding from a whirlpool — thinking himself freed from 
its coils, but soon finding that it is only an eddy which 
has borne him away that it may bring him back again 
and plunge him deeper into the maelstrom. Yes, we 
know this, and not from books nor libraries, but from 
our own bitter experience. Our souls have it still in re- 
membrance and are humbled within us. 

And what we have thus painfully learned, our Apostle 
describes most graphically just before uttering the text, 
in the portraiture of a penitent, convicted, longing, cry- 
ing for deliverance, but overwhelmed with the hopeless- 
ness of his condition until Christ is revealed in him. 
" For we know that the law is spiritual ; but I am carnal 
sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not, for 
what I would, that I do not; but what I hate, that I do. 
If, then, I do that which I would not, I consent unto the 
law that it is good. Now it is no more I that do it but 
sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, (that 
is in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing; for to will is 
present with me ; but how to perform that which is good 
I find not. For the good that I would, I do not ; but the 
evil which I would not, that I do. ~ Now if I do that I 
would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that 
dwelleth in me, I find, then, a law that, when I would 
do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the 
law of God after the inward man ; but I see another law 
in my members warring against the law of my mind, and 
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in 
my members. ! wretched man that I am, who shall 
deliver me from the body of this death?" 

II. The. law is " weak through the flesh," you under- 
stand the import of these words. I pass now to our 
second article, in which I would enquire, what it is that 
the law cannot do because thus frustrated. 



The Law and the Gospel. 95 

However transcendent the native power and dignity 
of the law, we know, as a matter of fact, that it is a 
dead letter with reference to any saving efficacy for man. 
Such is its infirmity that it cannot achieve even the first 
w 7 ork in our salvation ; it cannot produce repentance. 

That there may be a knowledge of sin by the law, and 
that this conviction may prepare the way for the Gospel 
by shaking the conscience with guilty terrors, — fear 
making a breach through which love may enter — this I 
have already said; but these alarms do not cause real 
penitence. " Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto 
salvation." It is not the dread of punishment, but 
godly sorrow — a grief like that w 7 hieh God feels over 
sin — it is this alone which will ever humble the soul in 
true contrition ; but this cannot be produced by legal 
enactments. Of sin itself, no one w T as ever convinced 
by the law ; — of sin I mean in its essential heinousness, 
and in its aggravations, — of sin as the abominable thing 
which God hates, — as high treason against Jehovah's 
government, — as an outrage against all his perfections. 
And if legal precepts and promulgations fail to show the 
true character of sin, much more palpable is their im- 
potence to shew us our real character, the magnitude of 
our own guilt. Vainly shall w r e attempt this. It is to 
no purpose that ministers sent to preach the Gospel, 
forget their mission, and hope to convince the world of 
sin by preaching the law. Upon the crookedness of 
men's ways we may place the straightness of the com- 
mandment. We may apply its searching caustic light 
to the heart, the thoughts, the life, and pronounce all 
sin, — sin against an infinite God, against an infinitely 
just and holy law, and therefore working infinite mis- 
chief. All this may be done ; but all this will not bring 
any man to a true sense of his sinfulness. Something 
else is needed. It was not when his accusers sought to 
convict him by the law 7 , but when a very different voice 
adjudged him, that Job, though " upright and perfect," 
abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes. It 
was not before the august glory of the law, but before a 
very different presence, that the holiest of the prophets 
exclaimed, " I am undone." It is not by the denuncia- 



96 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

tions of Sinai, but by a very different revelation, that 
the Holy Spirit " convinces the world of sin." And 
without this revelation no human being will ever see 
himself as he really is, utterly ruined and lost. No, no, 
the sense of God and his authority is too feeble ; self- 
love and the passions are too strong; the heart is too 
desperately wicked and deceitful ; the mind and con- 
science are too hopelessly darkened, perplexed, and per- 
verted. 



The law, therefore, cannot effect the first work in our 
salvation ; it is too " weak through the flesh " to produce 
repentance. Suppose, however, that this could be done, 
what now ? What ground or hope of acceptance with 
God can the law propose to a penitent who presses that 
solemn enquiry, "What must I do to be saved ?" Law 
can, of course, make no provision for pardoning — much 
less for rewarding those who are guilty of transgression. 
Such a clause would in itself be an absurdity; it would 
not only repeal the statute, but offer a premium for 
crime. Law provides only those penalties which are an 
element in all legislation. If, then, men carry within 
them the consciousness of sin ; no matter how sincere 
and bitter their contrition, the law can be only the 
"ministration of condemnation." Vainly do they 
lament the past, and promise for the future, and be- 
wail and afflict themselves ; the law can take no notice of 
all this ; all this neither satisfies its present demands 
nor vindicates its majesty insulted by "sins that are 
past." It must, therefore, still pursue them with its 
avenging thunders. Salvation by the law is plainly a 
foregone, ruined, abortive scheme. If a single human 
being escape punishment and reach heaven, there must 
be some interposition arresting the course of justice, and 
disarming the law, not only by a pardon, but by a per- 
fect righteousness, — so that God can be just and yet 
justify the culprit — can be " a just God and a Saviour " 
— a condition which seems to carry, in its very terms, a 
glaring contradiction ; — for it pardons and yet punishes ; 
it holds a man under the law, yet makes him independent 
of it. 



The Law and the Gospel 97 

A third impotency of the law grows out of that just 
mentioned, and is shewn by the same train of argument. 
This has reference to peace in the conscience. 

Conscience anticipates the future judgment of God, 
and its power is fearful, because it compels us to con- 
demn ourselves. Pride may defy the decision of a for- 
eign tribunal; the passions are ingenious in evasions and 
artifices when others accuse us ; but no man can resist 
his own sentence upon himself. Fixing her keen eye 
directly upon the secret thoughts and motives and hid- 
den springs of action, scrutinizing the heart in all its 
tortuous windings and shiftings, conscience pronounces 
judgments which can neither be questioned nor re- 
versed ; and before her stern tribunal all confess their 
guilt. It would, of course, be unreasonable to expect 
great terrors in the bosoms of those whose lives have 
never been stained by great crimes; but all feel the con- 
viction of delinquency and transgression. And as the 
law can furnish no refuge from this self condemnation, 
— nay "as the strength of sin is the law " — we must re- 
main under the oppressive consciousness of irretrievable 
ruin, unless some hope be disclosed of which the law 
gives no intimation. 

I will only add — what indeed the apostle chiefly in- 
tends by the text, — that the law has no sanctifying 
power. It cannot fulfill its own righteousness in us, can- 
not transform us into its own model. As to bringing 
the children of earth to exemplify its unsullied beauty 
and purity, it' is an utter failure. However it may pre- 
scribe statutes, and command us to love, and fulminate 
curses upon disobedience, it has no sort of influence in 
winning the heart to the life required, — in obtaining 
any reflection or repercussion of the perfeetness it ex- 
hibits. An act of Parliament, it is said, can do any- 
thing; but it cannot make anybody love you. Human 
passions cannot be regulated by legislative enactments. 
A man enslaved to his appetites cannot be emancipated 
by legal enforcements. A divine Liberator is needed. 
Our affections will be only alienated by threats and 
severities ; they can be attracted only by love. Penal 
rigors have been tried in religion, but did they ever 



98 Richard Fuller s Ser?no?is. 

make a real convert? And as for governments, it is 
notorious, that punishments only harden the criminal 
and make him more desperate. To reach and soften the 
heart, and purify it, and engage it in love and loyalty to 
God, can never be the work of jurisprudence. Some 
means besides the sternness of command, some expedient 
very different from the law, is indispensable, if the heart 
is to be restored to God in confidence, gratitude, and 
cheerful consecration. 

III. I have thus illustrated two truths in our text. I 
have shewn how the law is " weak through the flesh ;" 
and how it is therefore utterly ineffectual to do anything 
for man's salvation. It remains only that we glance at 
the expedient of the Gospel, and see how, by the great 
atonement, God hath gloriously and wonderfully 
achieved what the law could not do. " For w 7 hat the law 
could not do, in that it was w^eak through the 
flesh, God hath done by sending his own Son in the 
likeness of sinful flesh, and for a sin offering; — thus 
condemning sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of 
the law might be fulfilled in us, w T ho walk not after the 
flesh but after the Spirit." 

Were it not always necessary that our sermons should 
be imperfect compositions, I would pause for a while, 
that I might comment upon the language here employed 
as to the mission of the Redeemer. The phraseology is 
full of significancy, and bears a close resemblance to 
other passages which you will at once recall, and which 
affirm the incarnation of a Divine Being so distinctly, 
that we must either receive this great dcctrine, or reject 
the New Testament as a revelation from heaven. 

That the words " his own Son " are an assertion of 
the Saviour's equality with the Father, we know from 
an interpretation perfectly decisive. In the fifth chap- 
ter of John's Gospel we have the comment of the Evan- 
gelist, declaring that, in calling God bis Father, Jesus 
" made himself equal with Gcd." (v. 18). In the tenth 
chapter of the same Gospel, when Jesus demanded of 
the Jews, why they wished to stone him, they replied 
— and he acquiesced in their construction of his words — 



The Law and the Gospel. 99 



that they did not stone him for any good work, but be- 
cause in styling himself the Son of God, he, being a 
man, made himself Go. I. In short, and not to weary 
you with quotations, ponder the address of the Father 
to the Son. " Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne God 
is forever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the 
sceptre of thy kingdom." There can be no question 
then, that the mysterious Person here called " God's 
own Son" is a divine Being. 

Now observe what is revealed as to his advent. 
" When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth 
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to re- 
deem them that were under the law r , that we might re- 
ceive the adoption of sons." " Who, being in the form 
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, 
but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him 
the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of 
men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled 
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death 
of the cross." " God sending his own Son in the like- 
ness of sinful flesh/' We have already seen the import 
of the title " God's own Son ;" .and these passages at 
once established the fact that the mission of Jesus into 
the world was an astonishing anomaly in the divine 
government, — the inauguration of a new aud amazing 
constitution, by which a glorious substitute should 
represent us before Almighty Justice, and should finish 
an atonement for human iniquity. 

I must not dwell, however, upon this great doctrine, 
a doctrine transcendently above human thought, and 
carrying in itself the abundant attestation of its divine 
origin and character. What demands our attention at 
present is, the efficacy of the Gospel to supply the defi- 
ciencies of the law. Observe it is for those only who 
confide themselves to Jesus and seek to conform them- 
selves to the influences of the Holy Spirit, — for those 
" who walk afcer the Spirit," — that this expedient is 
provided. As to the impenitent, the law is by no means 
weak ; it will forever assert its majesty and inviolability, 
by discharging its vengeance on their souls. It is for 
salvation, that the law is impotent, and that Christ cru- 



100 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

cified is the power and the wisdom of God to retrieve all 
the inadequacies of the law. 

Vrhat is the first insufficiency of the law which we 
have noticed? It is its failure to work repentance for 
sin. But what the law could not do is done most ef- 
fectually by the Cross and its awful exhibition of in- 
termingled justice and holiness. In the dismal specta- 
cle upon Calvary, in the immolation of such a victim as 
the only reparation to the violated majesty of the law ; 
in the stupendous fact that " God spared not his own 
Son/' but poured upon him, when he took our place, all 
the gathered tempest of wrath; and that the sore and 
ineffable agonies of a Divine Being were necessary to 
make atonement for man's guilt; — in all this what an 
intense and terrible revelation of the evil of sin. 

"God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful 
flesh and for a sin offering, condemned sin in the flesh." 
This mysterious language has been the theme of much 
learned discussion ; but I humbly conceive that its 
meaning is plain enough ; and who is not dismayed by 
the heinousness of sin as he comprehends that meaning? 
It was in the flesh of his oicn incarnate Son that God con- 
demned sin." Our fallen race, the Apostle designates 
as "sinful flesh." Our depravity and the weakness 
entailed by that depravity could not absolve us from the 
eternal obligation which binds every moral existence to 
conform to the will of God ; and, pursued by the relent- 
less inflexibility of the law, our destruction was inevita- 
ble. " To redeem them that were under the law/"' God's 
own Son assumes "tie likeness of sinful flesh." In our 
humanily, and for us, he presents himself before Eter- 
nal Justice, lie " bears our sin in his own body," and he 
is not spared. He — "the Brightness of the Father's 
glory and the Express Image of his person,"— he whom 
the "Father seemed to love even more tenderly in his 
humiliation than in his original glory, and delight in 
whom caused the divine complacencies twice to break 
out in audible, I had almost said irrepressible exclama- 
tions, — he is not spared. Xot a pang is mitigated, not 
a stroke is suspended. The inexorable decree goes forth, 
" Awake, sword, against the man that is mine equal," 



The Law and /he Gospel 101 

and his frame is smitten, and his spirit is consumed as a 
sacriiice for sin. After this, can we forget that sin is the 
abominable thing which God hates, and call it vire— thus 
regarding it only in its relation toman? After this, 
can any one make light of sin? or lull himself with the 
vague hope of mercy — the hope that a rebel may insult 
and defy the divine justice, and outrage the divine 
government, and then degrade the Sovereign Ruler and 
Judge, stripping him of every attribute, and forcing him 
to a weakness which would disgrace the humblest earth- 
ly magistrate ? 

" Condemned sin in the flesh ; ? ' it is not for nothing, 
my brethren, that such emphasis is placed upon these 
words. Never in the annals of Jehovah's empire had 
there been such a condemnation of sin ; never such a 
sentence against its infinite malignity; never such a 
proclamation of the awful and inviolable sanctity of the 
law, of the desperate issues which follow instantly 
wherever transgression goes, and of the immaculate 
holiness of the divine character in its severe adherence 
to moral order and its inflexible opposition to iniquity. 
Sin had been condemned before ; condemned upon this 
fallen earth, when there went up the wail of myriads 
whelmed in the remorseless billows, and when a fiery 
deluge blended the cities of the plain in one red, blazing 
sepulchre; condemned in Paradise, when light and joy 
and love withered from those blooming bowers ; con- 
demned even in heaven, when angels as high and pure 
and dear to the divine heart as any of the sanctities 
who stood thick around the throne, were precipitated 
into eternal misery, where they now lie, under chains of 
darkness, un visited by one ray of consolation or hope. 
But all these were feeble expressions of the true nature 
of sin, compared with that which w 7 as written in the 
flesh, the blood, the heart of God's own Son. 

And this exhibition of the real character of sin has 
this great advantage, that it is practical. God sent his 
Son "for sin" — for a sin offering — to bear our sins, 
ilere is, then, no abstract manifesto, but a judgment, an 
execution which comes home to us. For it is our sin 
which is thus baleful; which is not only a crime, but a 



102 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

crisis so terrible. Before such a catastrophe the mind is 
startled, alarmed, frightened, appalled. And the more 
we study this phenomenon, and come to see that nothing 
could adjust the portentous emergency but such an altar 
smoking with such blood, the more we stand aghast at 
our utter ruin, the more must we shudder at the un- 
searchable malignity of sin. "I will pour upon the 
house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem 
the spirit of grace and of supplication ; and they shall 
look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall 
mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and 
shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness 
for his first born." Such is the promise, and wherever 
there is a genuine revival of religion, wherever there are 
true conversions, this prophecy is fullilled. Brainard, the 
missionary, tells us, it was not when he preached the 
terrors of the law, that the Indians were dismayed at 
sin, but when he preached the Gospel. As he unfolded 
the mercy in the death of Christ, those who accepted 
the great atonement were filled with a sense of vileness ; 
and those who had no hope were filled with such a sense 
of the difference between the lost and saved in view of 
the sacrifice of the Cross, that they were overwhelmed 
with anguish, crying out with tears and sobs and almost 
falling into despair. 

The second deficiency of the law is, that it cannot lay 
any foundation for our pardon and justification ; and, 
here again, what the law could not do, God has done by 
the mission of his Son. That there must be some 
ground upon which sinners may find acceptance, all 
admit ; for if a man be left to endure the sentence pro- 
nounced against him, his ruin is certain. Indeed, as the 
apostle elsewhere intimates, all men seek to lay some 
foundation. And, of course, this foundation must be 
laid before a single step can be taken in the great busi- 
ness of salvation. 

Those who have never reflected upon the purity of the 
law, the inflexible severity, the inviolability of the Divine 
government, and the evil of sin as a breach upon that 
government, can have no adequate conception of the 
moral difficulty in the way of any dispensation from 



The Law mil the Gospel 103 

punishment. The law is the "ministration of condem- 
nation" only; it is the Gospel which is the ministration 
of righteousness. By the Saviour's interposition, not on- 
ly is pardon secured, but a perfect righteousness through 
which we are justified. And what matchless mercy, con- 
descension and grace is this. If God be true, sin is infi- 
nitely odious to him. If men are saved, it can only be 
by some expedient which shall be no truce with sin, but 
shall record and publish this uncompromising abhor- 
rence. In the sacrifice of Calvary this requisition is 
abundantly satisfied. In pouring the vials of wrath up- 
on that innocent and august substitute, there was the 
most memorable assertion of the divine holiness and 
justice which had ever been presented to the contempla- 
tion of the moral universe. And by the same astonish- 
ing catastrophe, there was finished an atonement for sin, 
which we feel at once is abundant. The penitent be- 
liever now exclaims, " I thank God through Jesus 
Christ." I thank God all is safe. He cannot doubt 
that such a contrivance must secure for him salvation, 
with all which is comprehended in that glorious word. 
"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up 
for us all, how shall he not with him also, freely give us 
all things." 

Thus making ample reparation for guilt, which the 
law could only punish, the blood of Jesus, of course, 
satisfies the third impotency of the law. It sheds peace 
into the conscience. " Being justified by faith, we have 
peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." "He 
was wounded for our transgressions, he w r as bruised for 
our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace teas upon 
him, and with his stripes we are healed." 

I have before said, that by " law," we may understand 
generally the rule of right and wrong which God has 
established ; and it is ever to this rule, or to some act as 
an expiation for the violation of this rule, that men re- 
pair for tranquillity of soul ; but it is to no purpose. Let 
a man adopt never so stern a course of self-denial and 
reformation; let him be never so punctilious in framing 
his ways to turn against the Lord ; let him go to the 
sanctuary, to the Bible, to his closet, to deeds of virtue 
ii 5 



104 Ri:h r trd Fullers Sermons. 

and charity — to penances, confessions, mortifications, la- 
cerations of his body; and — to soothe himself under the 
sense of sin and imperfections in these services — let him 
sing lullabies about God's mercy and goodness ; all this 
cannot avail. "When Ephraim saw his sickness, and 
Judah saw his wounds, then went Ephraim to the Assy- 
rian, and sent to king Jareb ; yet he could not heal you, 
nor cure you of your wound. " A poor, stricken, distressed, 
heavy-laden soul may resort to every refuge, may pom- 
its flowing agonies and wear itself out, to appease the in- 
ward terrors; it will, however, find no comfort. An agi- 
tated conscience is not thus drugged and silenced. 

But let this weary, guilty thing cease from his vain le- 
gal hopes, and 1urn to Jesus, and what a change! At 
what time his sins are flashing in, and his corruptions 
darken and appal the mind, let him behold the Lamb of 
God who taketh away the sin of the world, let his eyes be 
averted from his own works to that blood which cleans- 
eth from all sin; and one look is enough. As he catches 
the first glimpse of Jesus, I see the shadow pass from his 
countenance and light playing there. What is it, I say, 
that thus affects you ? He cannot speak, but I see it, I 
understand it well. His tears tell what object has struck 
his sight. And how altered is everything now. All is 
still ; the clamors of conscience are hushed ; the tempest 
rolls away ; every fear is quelled ; and peace, assurance, 
heavenly serenity settle down upon the spirit. It is the 
" blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered 
himself without spot to God " which must " purge our 
consciences from condemning works." The redeeming 
sacrifice, the perfect propitiation; this alone can assuage 
the pangs of conscious guilt. 

That God's own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, 
exhausted all the vengeance to which our sinful flesh 
stood exposed, and magnified the dignity and authority 
of the law, and secured a full discharge for all who trust 
in him, — this certainty will at once infuse tranquillity in- 
to the conscience. Once this amazing truth is fully re- 
ceived, the soul reposes with all its interests upon that 
finished Avork ; faith sees that our acquittal is not on the 
ground of our virtues, but on account of Him in whom 



The Law and the Gospel 105 

is all the righteousness of God ; the heart rejoices in a 
salvation which is independent of lamented imperfections 
and sins, which is, from first to last, the triumph of 
sovereign, almighty grace over conscious infirmity, faith- 
lessness, and self-condemnation. 

The last weakness of the law is, its want of sanctifying 
influence, and the Gospel is God's remedy for this. The 
text, as I have said, alludes particularly to this impotency ; 
but the other requirements and inadequacies which I 
have enumerated are directly, necessarily within its 
scope and contemplation. For before the question of per- 
sonal transformation can be entertained, it is indispensa- 
ble that the outraged law be appeased, — that there be a 
"forgiveness of sins that are past." The Son of God 
came "not by water only, but by water and blood." — 
Without the shedding of blood there could be no remis- 
sion of sin; but without remission of past guilt and of 
those delinquencies which the holiest must daily confess, 
even if the Jaw could impress its image upon a child of 
Adam, it would only be wasting its virtue upon a con- 
demned criminal awaiting his execution. It would 
achieve nothing toward his redemption from the grasp 
of offended authority ; it would, in fact, drive him to 
utter despair, just as his increasing holiness caused 
him to see the atrocity of sin, the righteousness of the 
law, the necessity that the threatened penalty should be 
awfully enforced, and, of course, his own inevitable, irre- 
parable ruin. 

But the law has no efficacy to produce in us any con- 
formity to the pattern it proposes. It is the Gospel which 
possesses this wonderful property, — that it charms away 
the power of corruption and transforms us to the right- 
eousness of the law, at the very time that it absolves us 
from all the penalties of the law. 

The law, as we have seen, can never awaken a proper 
abhorrence of sin ; it is before the exhibition of the Gos- 
pel that the soul sees in sin an inherent evil more to be 
dreaded than hell itself. Zeleucus, king of the Locri, 
enacted a law, the penalty of which was the loss of both 
eyes. His only son violated that law. To save him from 
total blindness, the monarch caused one of his own eves 



106 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

to be torn from its socket. Who of his subjects could 
have witnessed such a spectacle without awe? Could 
the sou ever have looked upon that royal face thus 
marred and bereaved, without finding his whole soul dis- 
mayed, filled with horror at his unnatural crime? 

The law is the " ministration of death," working only 
despair of obedience. Pressed by a sense of guilt from 
which there is no deliverance, disheartened by the con- 
scious impotency to retrench a single corruption, there 
lies upon the spirit of unpardoned man a cold sickening 
weight. He is a bankrupt owing millions, but unable to 
pay one farthing. And as that bankrupt will become 
reckless and plunge deeper and deeper in debt, so hope- 
lessness of deliverance will cause a man to abandon him- 
self to his evil passions; — sin thus " working all manner 
of concupiscence in him by the law itself." 

The Gospel is the " ministration of the Spirit," It 
absolves us from every debt but that of gratitude and 
love, and thus causes us to revive and respire in the lib- 
erty of the sons of God. It assures us that all is freely 
forgiven. It does more, it adds a new outfit of strength 
to obey the law. Not only are all old scores wiped out, 
but the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit is prom- 
ised, by which a life of holiness may be at once com- 
menced, and surely perfected. The law says, "Do this, 
and live." The Gospel says, "Live, and do this." 

The whole force of the law is expended in stern and 
awful denunciations, which repel and irritate; in penal- 
ties which, when executed, cause the damned to "gnaw 
their tongues and blaspheme the God of heaven." The 
power of the Gospel is the soft but resistless compulsion 
of love. It brings the soul under the influence of new 
motives, and by goodness, by mercy, by gentleness, it does 
what no severities can do; it slays the enmity of the car- 
nal heart, — melting and fusing it into gratitude and af- 
fection. It, in fact, exemplifies the sovereign efficacy of 
this divine solvent for the most vindictive hostility; " If 
thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him 
drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on 
his head." 



The Law and the Gospel. 107 

The law commands us to love a God who to onr guilty 
race " is a consuming fire," and whom it can represent 
only as an affronted and awful sovereign. The Gospel 
reveals a God who is Love. To discJose his character it 
takes us not to the garden whose gate is waved over by 
the flaming brands of avenging cherubim, 

44 With dreadful faces thronged and fiery arms;" 

but into that other garden where incarnate Love sobs 
and prays. It unfolds his attributes, not as proclaimed 
from the " mountain which burned with fire," but as 
shining in softened harmonious lustre upon that other 
mount, where Bleeding Love expires for our sins. Before 
such discoveries the heart can hold out no longer; the 
world is crucified to us and we to the world by the cross 
of Christ; pride and hatred melt away; gratitude and 
devotion claim and monopolize the heart. 

In fine, the law comes to us in cold black letters ; its 
highest perfection can only exhibit its precepts clearly 
in lifeless words. The Gospel writes these precepts, " not 
with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God;" it trans- 
lates, transfigures the commandment into a warm living 
language whose accents breathe love into the soul. It is 
no longer in written characters, but in the character of 
Jesus, that we see our duty. Holiness, in the Gospel 
system, is following the Bedeemer. He is the embodi- 
ment of the law ; and thus the personal attachment 
which every Christian feels to the Saviour draws us to 
the law. "The love of Christ constraineth us;" capti- 
vates us; brings us under the influence of a loyalty to 
truth and duty, of a spirit of cheerful performance, of a 
self-immolating conformity to the will of God — which 
no jurisprudence, not even that of heaven, can ever pro- 
duce. Old legal things — legal hopes, legal fears, legal 
" working in the very fire, and worrying ourselves for 
very vanity " — " old things are passed away, behold all 
things are become new." All things are now seen in 
new aspects ; the commandment is not grievous but joy- 
ous ; obedience is not enforced subjection, but the choice 
of a loving heart. A new Personage — who is a new 
power — acts upon the mind and will ; casting over every 



108 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

precept the attractions which bind us to him, and im- 
parting new hope and life and strength. Sin has no 
more dominion over us because the Holy Spirit is given 
to us. " The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus 
makes us free from the law of sin and death, and en- 
gages us in a service which is perfect freedom. 

I have now finished the discussion of this subject. 
Many reflections are suggested, but I must be brief, con- 
sulting here that rich economy of the treasures furnished 
by the text, which I have been compelled to practise 
throughout this entire discourse. 

And first, let us, once for all, understand what the 
Gospel is, and what is an evangelical ministry. " I 
determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus 
Christ and him crucified ;" such is the language of the 
prince of Gospel preachers. Even his enemies confessed, 
his accomplishments in all classical and refined litera- 
ture, his vigorous intellect, his profound knowledge and 
surpassing eloquence. He could have bandied logic and 
rhetoric with the noblest of the Grecians. But he 
despises all the excellences of human oratory, and as in 
his religion, so in his preaching, he glories only in the 
Cross. He will know nothing but Christ, and will know 
him only as a crucified Saviour. Let us comprehend all 
the import of this fixed purpose in our apostle; let it 
admonish us that Christian pulpits are erected for "the 
preaching of the Cross." 

Wheu I enter a church, what is my object? Is it to 
hear ethical disquisitions ? Or do I go there to see a 
sinner like myself — a man loaded with infirmities as I 
am, who calls himself a priest, puts on sacerdotal vest- 
ments, arrogates official sanctity, glorifies the efficacy of 
sacraments, and revives the Jewish ritual and altar and 
hierarchy ? K"o; never. I go there to hear of the blood 
which cleanseth from all sin ; of the one Priest who has 
entered heaven for me ; of a pardon which takes me just 
as I am — bowed down under a consciousness of confessed 
and lamented sin — and gives me the blessed assurance of 
a perfect righteousness, in which I shall stand faultless 
before him who charges his angels with folly, and in 
whose sight the heavens are not clean. . I want a preacher 



The Law and the Gospel. 109 

who points me to " the Lamb of God that taketh 
away the sin of the world ;" who speaks peace to my 
troubled conscience; who dispels those fears which daily 
defects and conscious weakness inspire, by the promise 
of the Holy Spirit. 

He knows nothing of the desperate condition of hu- 
manity, and nothing of evangelical truth, who exhorts 
guilty man to be spiritual and makes his righteousness 
the condition of acceptance with God ; and calls that 
preaching the Gospel. Such homilies have never caused 
the first movement towards real holiness. But even if 
they could draw the sinner into the paths of virtue, they 
could do nothing for his salvation. Our virtues are 
good currency among men ; but they are not government 
legal tenders to discharge our obligations to Divine 
Justioe and to purchase heaven. " By grace are we 
saved/' and not by the law. The first act of the vilest — 
yea, and the last act of the holiest —must be, to turn 
away from all we have done or can do to satisfy the 
divine law, and to embrace the salvation offered through 
Jesus, — to transfer our confidence from our virtues and 
graces as entirely as from our vices, — and to repose for- 
ever upon that atonement which secures peace and 
eternal safety from the condemnation of the law. This 
is the Gospel, — the good news of "redemption which is 
in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propi- 
tiation through faith in his blood." 

But, now — here is our second reflection — where the 
sacrifice of Calvary is truly accepted as the expedient by 
which, in the jurisprudence of heaven, the judicial 
righteousness of the law has been abundantly fulfilled 
for us, it will also, along with the sense of pardon, eend 
its sanctifying power into our nature. By a mysterious 
influence which the world cannot comprehend, which 
can be known only by experience, it will win the heart 
to love and obedience, and will thus fulfill the moral 
righteousness of the law in us. " Do we make void the 
law through faith ? God forbid; yea we establish the 
law." Not only does faith repair the outrage done to 
the majesty of the law by pleading the sublimest satis- 
faction, but it restores its dethroned supremacy over the 



110 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

heart and life. He who can take encouragement to sin 
from such a revelation of grace, has never received the 
truth as it is in Jesus. The Gospel of the grace of God 
is the most glorious mirror of the divine perfections ; 
and he who comes to Jesus will be gradually changed 
into that likeness. "Beholding as in a glass the glory 
of the Lord, we are changed into the same image from 
glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Sin 
dies hard anyhow ; but it does not die at all except 
through the power of grace. "Sin shall not have 
dominion over you." Why not? Because ye are in the 
dread of legal punishment ? ISTo, but because a new 
principle has been introduced into your hearts, because 
love reigns there. "Sin shall not have dominion over 
you, for ye are not under the law but under grace." The 
very grace which freely pardons, sweetly constrains the 
Christian to walk in the ways of holiness and true 
righteousness. Those who truly receive Christ "walk 
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." So effectually 
does the Holy Spirit mortify the power of corruption, 
that the apostle confidently exclaims, "How shall we 
who are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" 

If any neglect this salvation, they must perish ; nor 
need they go to the judgment seat to find out that they 
destroy themselves. They dare not assail the perfection 
of God's law, but they neither respect its purity, nor 
dread its penalty. No legislator is bound to superinduce 
a new constitution, by which culprits may escape ; but 
this God hath done, and much more than this. And, 
now, when such an extra-judicial economy — so adjusted 
to the entire emergency of our ruined condition — is 
offered to every man, if any stand out, and harden them- 
selves in pride and obstinacy, they must through eternity 
bewail a doom, in which mercy such as could never 
have entered the thought of unfallen angels, has been 
wilfully and w T antonly turned into an element of an- 
guish such as can never enter into the misery of fallen 
angels. 

Christians, see here your religion. It is love. Man 
or angel must be free ; if there be force, he obeys neces- 
sity, not God. He who overcomes by force overcomes 
but half his foe. The Gospel is the religion of love — God 



The Law and the Gospel. Ill 

is omnipotent because he is the essential, quintessential 
Love. A being with more love than God would be 
stronger than God. Love is of all things the softest yet 
the most potent. It is royalty without its force — or 
rather it is royalty with its most resistless, because its 
sweetest, gentlest force. Let this love dwell in your 
hearts and be exemplified in your lives. See too the 
ground of your full assurance of faith and hope, and 
the true motive of your obedience and loyalty. Live for 
him w T ho thus interposed to save you. Consecrate to 
this adorable Being all you have and all you are. Your 
salvation is his business ; make his service your business 
and delight. And while thus devoting yourself to this 
Redeemer, rejoice evermore in him,- — in his truth — his 
person — his almighty grace — his unchangeable love — 
his everlasting faithfulness — his precious blood whose 
efficacy reaches farther than the eye of your conscience 
ever penetrated, and cleanses you from a sinfulness more 
inveterate than you have ever conceived to be yours. 

Let the contemplation of these truths lay our pride 
low in the dust, as we ascribe all to him who loved us, 
and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath 
made us kings and priests to God and his Father. And 
let it also elevate our souls to that sublime confidence 
which — exulting in the great atoning sacrifice — trium- 
phantly exclaims, " Who shall lay anything to the charge 
of God's elect? It is God that justitieth. Who is he 
that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather 
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of 
God, who also maketh intercession for us." 

Thy judgments, Lord, are just; thou iov'st to w^ear 

The form of pity and of love divine. 
But mine are sins thou must not, canst not spare 

While heaven is true, and equity is thine. 
Yes, O my God, such crimes as mine, so dread, 

Leave but the choice of punishments to thee. 
Thy justice calls for vengeance on my head, 

And even thy mercy may not plead for me, 
Strike ! It is right. Though endless death should flow, 
I bless the avenging hand that lays me low. 
But on what spot can fall thine anger's flood, 
Which hath not first been drenched in Christ's atoning blood? 

ii 5 * 



112 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



Sevmon Strtfi. 



THE TRUE CHRISTIAN. 

44 For the love of Christ constraineth us : because we thus judge, that 
if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that 
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto 
him which died for them and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know 
we no man after the flesh ; yea, though we have known Christ after the 
flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man 
be in Christ he is a new creature; old things are passed away; 
behold all things are become new."— II Cor. v: 14—17. 

IN politics — with its turnings, windings, shiftings, 
shufflings, everlasting sinuosities, tortuosities, ambi- 
dexterities — there is nothing like trimming; it saves one 
from the charge of inconsistency and apostasy. Mr. 
Burke said, " I pitched my whiggism low, that I might 
stand by it." 

In business, too, a man often succeeds through the ab- 
sence of all strong generous elements in his character and 
conduct. Let there be no noble impulses, no warm ten- 
der sensibilities, no sympathy with human misery, no 
large public spirit, — the want of these qualities is a great 
negative treasure to him who lives only to amass riches 
upon this earth. 

In religion, however, there can be no timid and heart- 
less conservatism. He who pitches his piety low that 
he may stand by it, will find that he has no piety which 
will stand by him in the trying hour. That to be Chris- 
tians we must be positive and earnest in the service of 
Jesus is at once admitted by everybody ; but the very 
readiness with Avhich the proposition is conceded may- 
prevent our feeling all its import. Nothing is more com- 



The True Christian. 113 

mon than the self-deception by which a truth is received 
as so true that we do not give ourselves any trouble about 
it. When it is announced, we at once reply, Nobody 
doubts it ; and because nobody doubts it, we allow it to 
sleep in our minds and act as if it were a falsehood. — 
Now surely in a matter of such infinite importance as 
salvation, this supineness is most deplorable. Surely a 
man in his senses ought constantly to be comparing his 
conduct with his creed ; he ought to say to himself — I 
believe this truth, I know it, what has been, what is its 
influence upon my character ? are my hopes, my plans, 
my life in harmony with my principles ? 

While it does not become us to prefer one part of the 
Scriptures to another, still there are passages whose 
wealth appears the more unsearchable the more carefully 
they are explored. They resemble certain spots upon 
which God has chosen to amass every sort of affluence. — 
On first reaching them, we are lost in admiration of the 
waving harvests all around, but we afterwards find that 
there are fathomless mines of gold beneath the surface, 
veins of the richest ore which can never be exhausted. — 
Our text is one of these glorious portions of the Bible. 
It contains in itself the entire Gospel. It deserves our 
most careful attention, because it announces God's judg- 
ment as to the character and destiny of every child of 
Adam. " We thus judge " — this is the final, irrevocable 
decision; and what is this decision? It comprehends 
three propositions, which will be the subjects of our com- 
mentary to-day. The first is, that a Christian is a man 
in Christ; the second is, that a Christian is a man for 
Christ; the third is, that a Christian is a new man. 

I. A Christian is a man in Christ. " If any man be in 
Christ." " There is therefore now no condemnation to 
them that are in Christ Jesus." Referring to some who 
had been converted to God before him, the apostle says, 
" Who were in Christ before me;" and when anticipating 
his own final acceptance, it is only because he would be 
" found in him." But I will not multiply quotations. 
You read your Bibles and can at once recall other pas- 
sages. 



114 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



"If any man;" — observe, my brethren, how intensely 
personal a matter salvation is. This thought is of vast 
importance at this day, when almost every enterprise is 
delegated to the agency of organized masses of men or 
women, and when, consequently there is great danger of 
our losing the sense of individual responsibility. Unless 
we bear in mind that religion is an active inward princi- 
ple, and that social relations are useful chiefly as the 
means of promoting spiritual growth and energy to the 
soul, it is to be feared even in the best societies, nay, even 
in the church appointed by Jesus for the noblest pur- 
poses, that we may surrender our consciences to others, 
and substitute sympathy with their opinions for that in- 
ternal freedom and self-decision which alone can secure 
the approbation of God. Death, the judgment., will in- 
sulate each of us; and the Gospel now seeks to separate 
every one from the crowd and to speak to him of his " own 
salvation." When Jesus would cure the man who was 
deaf and dumb, he "took him aside from the multitude." 

" If any man be in Christ" — here then, is the epitome 
of evangelical religion. To be in Christ is everything. — 
It is of infinite consequence, therefore, that Ave compre- 
hend the meaning of this phrase; nor is it difficult to see 
what is its general import. By this expression, we are 
taught that God regards the Christian not as he is in 
himself, but as he is in Jesus, with whom he is identified, 
into whom he is incorporated by faith. You meet a child 
of God every day in the streets, in the market, in the 
place of business, and he seems to you like other people. 
In the eyes of the world he is like other people; they say 
of him, that he is a good man, only a little too strict about 
some things. In his own estimate he is perhaps worse 
than other men ; certainly it is the publican and not the 
pliarisee in whom he sees himself. For before his con- 
version how vile was his life — his soul hath it still in re- 
membrance and is humbled within him. And now how 
much in his daily experience to fill him with the most 
substantial mortification, to cause him in deep self-abhor- 
rence to exclaim, "In me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth 
no good thing." Convictions so clear that a voice from 
heaven could lend them no additional cogency, and yet 



The True Christian. 115 

so inefficacious ; mercies forever multiplied, and still my 
heart to remain what it is ; so much forgiven and yet so 
little love ; — am I, can I be a child of God? Such are 
his confessions and lamentations. What then is the dif- 
ference between the Christian and others ? It is this. — 
He is in Christ Jesus. Thus the Bible regards him ; thus 
we should regard him. If ever he enters heaven it will 
be because he is in Christ; and there this will be his 
highest distinction. Speaking of his raptures, our apos- 
tle renounces all merit in himself, and ascribes his ex- 
altation entirely to his union with Jesus. "I knew a 
man in Christ, caught up into paradise ; of such a one will 
I glory; yet of myself I will not glory but in my infirm- 
ities." In a word, the true church, above and below, is 
composed of those who are " accepted in the Beloved," 
and are " gathered together in one in Christ." It is only 
in this view that the Father looks upon us and deals with 
us. John beheld "a rainbow round about the throne,"* 
bo that turn which way he would, " he that sat upon the 
throne" saw objects not in their own colors, but in the 
noftened rosy lights shed upon them by that medium. — 
And thus God upon his mercy seat views us ; not in our 
deformity, but as invested with the glory of the adorable 
Mediator, clothed in his righteousness and grace. 

In general, then, you perceive what is the meaning of 
the phrase before us ; you comprehend that as to be 
"without Christ" is ruin, and to be "with Christ is" 
heaven, so to be "in Christ" is the abridgment of Gospel 
piety. But upon such a subject we must seek to pene- 
trate a little farther, and when we analyse this expres- 
sion, we find it full of heavenly consolation and joy. 

I know, my brethren, that the offence of the cross has 
not ceased ; that here, at this day — as at Athens, in Paul's 
day — men will listen while we speak of God as a Father, 
but will betray their rooted repugnance as soon as we 
preach Christ as a Saviour. Foster is utterly mistaken 
about this matter. Among the reasons why evangelical 
doctrines are distasteful to persons of refinement, he men- 
tions the use of certain technical phrases .; but it: is. not 
the w T ords, it is the ideas which are repulsive to the car- 
nal mind. The Gospel reveals peculiar truths, the depth 



116 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

of which can be expressed only by the exact language 
which the Holy Spirit has chosen, and this language is 
offensive only because it embodies such truths. 

I admit that the doctrine of salvation by grace has 
been abused, and hence some have been tempted to con- 
ceal it, or to explain it away ; but this is as if one should 
cast his treasures into the sea, because some vicious 
people put their money to vile uses. The great funda- 
mental verity that Christ has done all and that we receive 
all freely, is often perverted; I know and lament this, 
but what then? does this disprove its authenticity ? A 
medicine is discovered as to which we are assured, that, 
if administered properly it will certainly heal a disease, 
but that if taken improperly it will be fatal. A cure 
follows its right exhibition in every case; but in one 
instance it has been given improperly and the most dis- 
astrous effects have followed. What sort of logic would 
that be which argued that the prescription could 
not have been genuine, because the very mischief ensued 
of which we had been forewarned ? Over and over the 
Bible admonishes us, that men will turn the grace of 
God into licentiousness; that where the Gospel is 
preached a depraved heart may prostitute it into this 
abominable inference, "Let us continue in sin that grace 
may abound." The very misuse which the enemies of 
Christ make of this truth proves, therefore, that it is the 
truth which Paul preached. 

The unbelief of men cannot falsify the revelation 
which God has given ; and now when we examine our 
text and enquire into the meaning of these words, "In 
Christ" we find in them this mysterious and glorious 
announcement that a living faith unites us personally 
with Jesus and makes us partakers of his death. "If 
one died for all, then those all died ;■" this is the declara- 
tion of v. 14. Our English version renders the passage 
obscure, or rather it is a mistranslation. Tt seems to 
refer to a previous state of spiritual death, but this is not 
and cannot be the force of the Greek word apethanon 
which means, "died," and conveys this truth that all 
died for whom Christ died. 



The True Christian. 117 



Now, at first, this seems to be a strange argument, for, 
if Jesus came to deliver us from death, how can it be 
said that all died because he died for them ? Surely the 
effect of his death ought to be, that none would die. 

It is plain, therefore, that there is a profound and mys- 
terious truth here revealed, and that this truth is, the 
vicarious character of Christ's death. He died for us, in 
our stead, as our representative; and if he thus died for 
us, w r e, of course, died when he died. If the government 
accepts a substitute to render service, the law regards 
the service as rendered by the principal. If an ambassa- 
dor, in the name of his nation, negotiates a treaty, it is 
the act of the nation. 

I need scarcely remark that the doctrine before us gives 
no sort of countenance to the heresy of Universalism. — 
For in the original it is said that "those all" (hoi pantes) 
share in Christ's death, for whom he died. And who 
these are the text tells us. They are those and only those 
who are" in Christ," who are "new creatures," who 
" live not unto themselves, but unto him that died for 
them and rose again." It is of these the apostle is speak- 
ing, and, as I said before, he refers not to a preceding 
state of apostasy, but to an act finished by us — a sacrifice 
offered by us when Jesus died. That by nature we are 
"dead in trespasses and sins is abundantly taught 
elsewhere. Here, however, this cannot be the idea, not 
only because we have seen that the language forbids 
such an interpretation, but because it would be absurd 
to say that our depravity and corruption were transferred 
to our substitute. Of course the apostle employs the 
term " death " in the same sense when applying it to us 
and to Christ, and in each case it means the penalty of 
the violated laAV ; this Jesus satisfied for us, and we 
satisfied in him. If any doubt could exist upon this 
point, it is removed by the succeeding context, where the 
sacrifice of this sinless Being is represented as a sacrifice 
which not only atones for our guilt, but causes us to 
stand justified in him. "He hath made him to be sin 
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the 
righteousness of God in him." 



118 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

Here, then, is one glorious truth in our text. " Christ 
died for our sins." The holy victim "bare our sins in 
his own body on the tree," and " there is, therefore, now 
no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus." — 
But this is not all. It is not enough that Jesus died, 
unless he arose from the dead; hence it is declared in 
the passage before us, that he not only died for us, but 
" rose again," — rose again for us in the same sense in 
which he died for us, that is, as our representative. 

Yes, beloved brethren, it is not only with a dying 
Saviour that faith unites us, but with a living Saviour 
as well. We are not only "crucified with Christ," but 
we are "risen with him." Having shared his death, we 
also share his resurrection-life. . Every Christian can say, 
"I know that my Kedeemer liveth." I know it, because 
I feel the power of his resurrection awakening in me a 
new power, raising me from the death of sin to new 
hopes, to new joys, to a new life. 

" If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet 
in your sins;" why must this be? Because he died in 
our sins, and we died in him as our substitute. And if 
£ie never rose he is still dead, and we are still dead in 
our sins. As gold, however precious, does not become 
currency — a legal tender— without the government 
stamp, so the death of Jesus, though most amazing, 
would have wanted the divine seal of validity, had he 
not risen. " But now is Christ risen from the dead." — 
"He was delivered for our sins, and rose again for our 
justification." 

Christian, enter into this truth and see the ground of 
an assurance, a gratitude which ought to defy all the as- 
saults of earth and hell. "God who is rich in mercy, 
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we 
were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with 
Christ, (by grace ye are saved) ; and hath raised us up 
together and made us sit together in heavenly places in 
Christ Jesus." And comprehend, too, the source of 
your strength and your joy; it is a living Saviour; a 
Kedeemer who died once, but ever liveth to give life and 
victory to his people. Often should we look back at his 
sufferings, but never without also looking up to the 



The True Christian. 119 



throne to which he has passed through those sufferings. 
The cradle at Bethlehem is now empty; the night air of 
the garden no longer resounds with his "strong crying 
and tears ;" no longer is his bleeding form nailed to the 
cross. The manger, Gethsemane, Calvary now say, 
Why seek ye the living among the dead? he is not here, 
he is risen, and ye are risen with him; because he lives 
ye shall live also. " Blessed be the God and Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant 
mercy, hath begotten us again to a lively (life giving) 
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 
to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that 
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are 
kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. " 

TI. A Christian is a man in Christ, — this was our 
first proposition. A Christian is a man for Christ, — this 
is our next topic of discourse. 

I said just now that the believer died in Christ, satis- 
fying the penalty, so that the law has no punitive claim 
upon him. Is he therefore absolved from all duty? 
Not at all. He is bound to Jesus by the strongest obliga- 
tions. When the surety pays a bond, the debt is not 
cancelled, but is transferred to him, with an additional 
claim upon the gratitude of the principal. Hence we 
are " not without law to God, but under the law to 
Christ." And the apostle thus speaks of his death in 
Christ and of the new life of devotion springing from 
that death, " T am crucified with Christ ; nevertheless I 
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life 
which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the 
Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." 

Eeverting to the text, observe the truths there an- 
nounced. First, we died when Christ died. By his in- 
terposition we atoned for our guilt. What then ? What 
is the influence of this amazing grace and mercy ? It 
captivates our hearts and constrains us to live not for 
ourselves, but for him who died for us and rose again. 
In other words, " Christ hath redeemed us from the 
curse of the law, being made a curse for us," and he has 
thus acquired a supremacy which causes every Christian 
to worship and serve him. " Ye are bought with a 



120 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your 
spirit which are God's." 

"That they which live should not henceforth live 
unto themselves." Do not misunderstand this language. 
There is no piety, nay there is a most subtile self-love in 
the very interdicts which some people impose upon their 
natures, as if mere self-denial possessed merit. Self-immo- 
lation for the sake of self-immolation is either the 
austerity of the church of Borne, or it is a sort of refined 
epicureanism. Not martyrdom, but the object for which 
martyrdom is endured confers glory upon the sufferer. It is 
not because she patiently welcomes care and sacrifice, but 
because she thus forgets herself in seeking to promote 
the virtue and happiness of her children, that we admire 
the devoted mother. It is because he exposes himself 
to hardship and danger for his country, that we honor 
the patriot. And so with the Christian. It is not self- 
neglect, but the surrender of his own pleasure and 
interests to promote the cause of Jesus which constitutes 
his true life. He lives not unto himself, " but unto him 
that died for him and rose again." 

Nor let us suppose that this life of sacrifice is easy. 
The mainspring of human feelings and passions is 
supremely selfish. Tell a bad man that self is his God; 
he will deny it and make loud professions of disinter- 
estedness. But a good man confesses this deceitful and 
desperately inveterate vice, and seeks to subdue it. 
Easy to live not for self! he who is thoroughly in earn- 
est will not find it so. There must be the controlling 
impulse of some motive, at once all pervading and most 
powerful. I say all pervading ; for as the healthy func- 
tions of the body would be impossible if vitality were 
only in the hands or the feet, — as the life of each mem- 
ber must be a part of the life circulating through the 
whole system; so there can be no real self-denial, unless 
the heart be under an influence reaching all its passions 
and affections. And the motive must be most powerful. 
Examine the reasons why one man fails, and another 
succeeds in triumphing over every difficulty, and you 
will generally find it in the feebleness and potency with 
which motives act upon them respectively. It is a great 
thing to have a noble ruling passion ; to have ever 



The True Christian. 121 

before us some worthy object which fires all the ardors of 
the soul and absorbs the warmest aspirations of the 
heart. 

And, now, where can such a motive be found — a 
motive pervading and potent enough to disengage the 
heart from the love of self as the one great monopolizing 
object ? The love of Jesus and the sentiments kindled 
by that love do exert this imperial efficacy. However 
impossible without this ascendant influence, yet under 
its expulsive power, the Christian can say with truth, 
" I live not unto myself;" " I am not my own ;" my for- 
tune, my health, my talents, my time, my influence, my 
life are not my own, they are Christ's; I live for him 
who died for me and rose again. Yes, if we are in 
Christ, we will be for Christ; — for him always, and all 
for him; thinking for him, acting for him, sacrificing 
lor him, living for him, dying for him. 

0, think of the abyss in which Jesus found us ; the 
helpless hopeless ruin in which we were plunged. He 
came to " seek and to save that which was lost." Inno- 
cence was lost, strength was lost, communion with God 
was lost, the soul was lost, heaven was lost, all was lost 
and lost seemingly in irretrievable perdition. Lift your 
eyes to the glory, the far more exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory to which Jesus has raised us. Above all, 
the amazing stoop of love. Little cared he that he must 
abdicate the praises and glories of heaven ; that he must 
wrap his deity in mortal weakness, poverty, shame, con- 
tempt; that on his naked head the malice of earth and 
hell must be exhausted ; that he must be smitten, spit 
upon, nailed to the cross ; that his Father's presence 
should be withdrawn, and his soul be deluged by a sea 
of anguish. Of all this he recked not. Dearer to him 
was the salvation of one sinner than all the blessedness 
of eternity ; and for that, he, " the Brightness of the 
Father's glory" welcomed the humiliation, the tears, the 
blood, all the accumulated anguish of the garden and 
the cross. Ponder this most amazing phenomenon. Re- 
volve all the wonders of his incarnation, his life, his 
death ; what thoughts, what emotions, do such medita- 
tions inspire? I know, T lament the deadening effect of 



122 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



familiarity with this theme; but, after all, it is impossi- 
ble for a Christian to contemplate such an object and not 
find his heart burning with gratitude and love; his pas- 
sions and affections must be brought within the circle of 
a new influence, they must revolve around anew centre ; 
he will feel the force of that motive which the Scrip- 
tures constantly propose, as the irresistible argument to 
engage all our devotions, and to fix them forever. 

He who serves such a Saviour only through fear or 
interest, has never yet truly known Christ. The love of 
Christ makes self-denial not only possible but glorious. 
" God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto 
me, and I unto the world." "To me to live is Christ." 
" For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we 
thus judge, that if one died for all then those all died ; 
and that he died for all, that they which live should not 
henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which 
died for them and rose again." This is, this must be the 
language of a soul which truly knows Jesus and is in- 
flamed with his love. 

III. Our last article regards the Christian with refer- 
ence to the change which has come over him. He is a 
new man. 

Indeed a man in Christ and for Christ; a man re- 
nouncing all strength and merit, receiving all grace now, 
hoping for salvation hereafter, only through the work of 
another ; and yet giving himself to toil and sacrifice as 
if all depended upon his own exertions; — such a man 
must be a new creature, — a being quite unique, a phe- 
nomenon unintelligible to the wisdom of this w^orld. 
ISIor is there any exaggeration when the apostle declares 
that as to him, "old things are passed aw r ay, and all 
things are become new." 

Had I time I would speak of the importance of this 
change. Of all the vicissitudes which can befall us, 
none can compare with this. We may know many other 
changes; we may pass from obscurity to renown, from 
poverty to wealth, from sickness to health; but if we 



The True Christian. 123 



are real Christians, our conversion is the grand epoch of 
our existence. Paul viewed all the circumstances of his 
life from his birth up, as preliminary to this spiritual 
change. The true repentance of a single sinner awakens 
emotions of rapture in hea.en ; and those who have ex- 
perienced it feel that it transcends all other blessings. 
As the apostle declares that the death of Christ is the 
august consummation which all prophecy anticipated, — 
whose influence radiates through, ail time and is trans- 
mitted into eternity ; — so his death in Christ is the great 
era in a man's history for which all previous events in 
his life prepared the way, the memory of which conse- 
crates the time and the place that witnessed it, the ef- 
fects of which are felt while life lasts, and the conse- 
quences of which shall endure forever. 

I ought, also, to say something as to the necessity of 
this change, no matter what may be our natural charac- 
ter. "If any man be in Christ lie is a new creature;" 
any man — the most moral, as the most vicious — the 
amiable Xicodemus, the devout Cornelius, as well as the 
ferocious Saul and the savage jailer at Philippi. Nay, 
in some respects, this revolution is more wonderful, as it 
is more difficult, in men of a severe morality, than it is 
i.i " publicans and harlots." 

I will not dwell, however, upon these points. What 
I now press is the extent of this change. All admit 
that there must be some change, that something is 
wrong and must be altered ; the question is, what is 
wrong? what must be righted? And in the passage 
under consideration we have the answer. God tells us 
that there must be an entire radical change, that all is 
wrong and everything must be rectified. 

" If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature;" — to 
what does this language refer? It refers to our condi- 
tion in the sight of God and in the contemplation of his 
violated law. The words are generally applied to the 
spiritual change experienced in conversion ; and certainly 
there is then wrought in the soul a glorious renovation. 
Let us never forget this. Let us remember that "if any 
man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his ;" — 
that, " without holiness no man shall see the Lord ;" 
that, " they who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with 



124 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

the affections and lusts;" that, "if we are risen with 
Christ'' and "our life be hid with Christ in God," we 
will "mortify our members which are upon the earth ;" 
that, "in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any- 
thing nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by 
love ;" that, "there is no condemnation to them who are 
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after 
the Spirit." All this is abundantly taught in the Scrip- 
tures. 

But this is not the idea which is in our apostle's 
mind. He is speaking, not of a Christian's character, but 
of his state ; not of the progressive mortification of sin 
by the believer, but of an act finished at the moment of 
our union with Jesus; not, in short, of our sanctification, 
but of our justification. Sanctification is a slow, arduous 
life-work; and after years of spiritual conflict, "the flesh 
still lusteth against the Spirit." If the apostle had been 
describing the work of holiness, how could he say " Old 
things are passed away"? Where are those saints in 
whom there are no vestiges of evil? Alas, how many 
old things— old thoughts, old remembrances, old propen- 
sities, old habits, old temptations, old infirmities, old sins 
still dog him continually and cause him to lie low before 
God in penitence and shame. In spite of restraints and 
chastisements, how much old corruption still clings to 
us. The best of us must walk softly under a sense of our 
vileness. Observe too, the language he employs. When 
speaking of our inward life, the Scriptures say that 
" Christ is in us." The expression " in Christ" alludes 
to the act of faith by which we are justified. Again in 
sanctification there is a great difference between Chris- 
tians ; but the text represents them all as upon the same 
footing. In all alike, old things are passed away, and all 
things are become new :" — an assertion that is true only 
of justification, which is perfect the moment a man be- 
lieves in Jesus. In short, we are expressly informed what 
is the apostle's meaning. In the Epistle to the Eomans 
he distinguishes between reconciliation and salvation ; — - 
using the former term to signify the justification of a 
sinner, and the latter to comprehend the whole spiritual 
progress of a Christian, including his growth in grace. 



The True Christian. 125 

" If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by 
the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we 
shall be saved by his life." Kow in the verses following 
our text the im new things " and the " old things " spoken 
of are declared to be things connected with our recon- 
ciliation — things wrought by God that we might be 
reconciled. "And all things are of God, wdio hath 
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. For he hath 
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we 
might be made the righteousness of God in him." 

It is, then, of our condition in Christ that the apostle 
speaks ; and how truly and gloriously may i't be said of 
those who are in Christ Jesus, that '"old things are 
passed away, and all things are become new." Oh, 
gone — forever gone is the old sentence of the law. 
Blotted out forever is the handwriting of ordinances 
which was against us. Borne away into the wilderness 
is the curse entailed by Adam. Eolled otf is the old 
burden, and broken is the galling yoke. The old doom, 
the old legal terrors at the thunderings of Sinai, the old 
w r retched abortive hopes and efforts to find peace by our 
own works and sacrifices, — all, all have passed away 
forever. And " all things are become new." A new 
foundation for pardon is now seen. The soul is clothed 
in a new righteousness ; exults in new prospects, new 
hopes, new dignity, new strength, a new outu't of grati- 
tude, love, joy ; it is translated into a new world, breathes 
a new atmosphere, is conscious of an entirely new exist- 
ence. 

"If any man be in Christ he is a new creature;" to 
what does this language refer ? It refers to the change 
in our views and estimates. The scales falling from his 
eyes, the Christian sees every object in new and spiritual 
aspects. " Wherefore henceforth know we no man after 
the flesh : yea though we have known Christ after the 
flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more." The 
Socinian knows Jesus after the flesh ; admiring his char- 
acter, his life, his death, as the impersonation of the high- 
est benevolence. The moralist knows Jesus after the 
flesh ; studying his doctrines as a perfect code of ethics. 
Thesacramentalist knows Jesus after the flesh ; beholding 



126 • Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

him in rites, ceremonies, externalisms addressed to the 
imagination, — adores him in a picture, eats him in a wa- 
fer. We ourselves, beloved, once knew Jesus after the 
flesh. From childhood we have learned to know and 
reverence his name, to honor his church, to kneel and 
call upon him in prayer. But when it pleased God to 
call us by his grace and to reveal his Son in us, what a 
change in our knowledge of this adorable Being; what 
new spiritual apprehensions at once broke in upon our 
ravished souls of his majesty, his suitableness, his love — 
of his mystical union with us, and of the mystery of our 
union with him in his death, his resurrection, his glory. 

The apostle declares, too, that this knowledge of the 
great mystery of godliness caused him to regard men in a 
new light. He regarded himself, in himself, with ab- 
horrence, despising as dung all the righteousness in 
which he formerly gloried, and glorying only in the 
righteousness of Jesus; saying, with the church in the 
Canticles, "1 am black but comely, because the sun hath 
looked upon me." And so of other men. " After the 
flesh," men are distinguished by their birth, rank, 
wealth, honor, learning. As Ave form our estimate in the 
light of the Cross, these superficial ephemeral differences 
sink into insignificance. We see that the only real dis- 
tinction is between those who are in Christ and those 
who are out of Christ; the latter being the children of 
wrath and perdition; the former being now the children 
of the high and holy majesty of the skies, and destined 
through eternity to be " the heirs ot God and joint heirs 
with Christ." 

I will only add, that these words "old things are 
passed away, behold all things are become new," refer to 
the conduct of the true Christian. If we are in Christ 
we will, of course, recognize our new relations to the 
world and to the church. If we are crucified with Christ, 
the world is crucified to us — at least in our purposes, in 
our ardent prayers, and in some actual superiority to its 
lusts, passions, maxims, examples. And so, too, if we 
are Christ's, his cause, his truth must be dear to us; all 
other relations, social, professional, domestic, will be 
subordinated to the spiritual union which identifies us 



The True Christian. 127 

with his church. Yes, if we are Christ's, he that sitteth 
upon the throne of our hearts says, " behold I make all 
things new;" — a new heaven is above us, a new earth is 
around us. 

My brethren, let us enter into these truths, and feel 
the greatness and happiness of the Christian. "Behold 
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, 
that we should be called the sons of God. Beloved, now 
.are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what 
we shall be/' And if, as the apostle adds, " the world 
knows us not," so much the worse for the world. If the 
world despises the Christian, the Christian looks with 
unutterable pity upon the blindness and misery of the 
world. How insignificant is everything in the world ; 
the polluted joys it can give; the honors, ribbons, stars, 
garters, decorations which monarchs bestow ; compared 
with the dignity and felicity of him who can look up to 
the high and holy Majesty of the universe and say, My 
Father ! Oh, if we believed these truths, earthly things 
would appear to us only as the toys which we loved when 
we were children, but which we despised when we out- 
grew such puerilities and imbecilities. Feeling our union 
with him who is the Celestial Life to be a happiness and a 
glory infinitely transcending sublunary distinctions, we 
would collect into one aggregate all which men love or 
pursue, and trampling them under foot, we would habit- 
ually and exultingly ascend to Jesus, exclaiming, "Whom 
have we in heaven but thee, and there is none upon 
earth that we desire besides thee." 

And let us remember that such blessings place us un- 
der the most solemn obligations. We are debtors not to 
the flesh to live after the flesh ; but to Jesus, to live for 
him who died for us and rose again, l^ever, until this 
glorious Gospel of the Son of God is fully received, will 
the church shake off her inglorious sloth and worldliness, 
and come forth in her imperial strength and majesty. — 
It may safely be affirmed, that no cause not directly sus- 
tained by God could possibly escape utter ruin, if its 
avowed advocates should be as heartless and selfish as 
are most of those who profess to be the disciples of Jesus. 
I have no sympathy with croakers who are ever deploring 
ii 6 



128 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

the degeneracy of the church. Our apostle complained 
that in his day, " all sought their own, not the things of 
Jesus Christ." But when we think of the resources pos- 
sessed by Christians at this day, and see the covetousness 
and selfishness which refuse everything but some im- 
measurably disproportionate contribution, we feel pain- 
fully how little is known of the grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ; how few of those who seem to be converted have 
been brought under the unmutilated influence of the 
Cross. 

Let the adorable mystery of the atonement exert its 
entire potency over our hearts, and what a change would 
come over the churches and over a world feeling the 
influence of such churches. "Old things" — old indo- 
lence, old avarice, old lukewarmness, old faithlessness — 
would at once pass away ; and all things would become 
new. New power would be imparted to the ministry ; 
new invigoration would be infused into the word, a new 
and resistless impulse would be given to the enterprise 
of missions; faith would become a new word — a principle 
working by love, purifying the heart, overcoming the 
world ; religion would be a new celestial life derived di- 
rectly from Jesus, with all its pulsations beating, not in- 
termittently, but constantly, for him ; none of us would 
live to himself, and no man would die to himself, but 
living or dying, we would be the Lord's ; each of us 
would say, " To me to live is Christ, — I am not my own, 
Jesus hath won me, ransomed me with his blood, and I 
am his for time and for eternity; nor would we know 
any desire so energetical, as the aspiration to be one with 
him now and forever. 

My brethren, to know that we are Christ's is the only 
assurance which can fill us with peace in a dying hour. 
That I belong to Jesus as my Redeemer will render death 
joyful, for to be absent from the body is to be present 
with the Lord ; and what has the earth to keep me from 
him whom my soul loves and worships? Let the whole 
universe exhaust its treasures to charm and detain me 
here, my inmost heart exclaims, Better, far better to de- 
part and be with Christ. And until that hour shall 
come, the assurance that I am his can cause me to toil 



The True Christian. 129 

on and suffer on ; welcoming pain and sacrifice for this 
adorable Being who loved me and gave himself for me; 
living to him and for him; in whom and from whom 
alone I can live at all. 

May this life be ours. May each of us be enabled to 
say, " I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; 
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." "1 am dead, and my 
life is hid with Christ in God ; when Christ who is my 
life shall appear, then shall I also appear with him in 
glory." As the mariner on the open sea beholds star af- 
ter star come forth to light him on his trackless path, 
until he hails the crimson splendors which warm the 
air and dispel the surrounding gloom ; — so may we look 
up, and our longing souls be cheered by those glories 
which stand disclosed to faith, until the day shall dawn 
and the day star shall arise, until night shall melt into 
twilight, and twilight into morning — the morning of a 
long, long cloudless day, whose sun shall never set, — or 
rather which shall not need the sun, for the Lord God 
shall lighten it, and the Lamb shall be the light thereof. 




130 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



jetmon Setoewtft. 



THE JUDGMENT. 

[first sermon on the text.] 

"For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment 
unto the Son." "And hath given him authority to execute judgment 
also, because he is the Son of Man."— John v: 22, 27. 

OBSERVE, my brethren, the position which in this 
entire chapter the Saviour easily and at once assumes. 
He is our model of humility and condescension ; " I am 
meek and lowly in heart;" yet in the context he asserts 
for himself a dignity immeasurably above that of any 
created being. We would revolt at the impiety, if these 
attributes of Deity had been arrogated by Paul or John. 
In fact the Jews "sought to kill him because he " made 
himself equal with God." (v. 8).* 

But while he thought it no robbery to be equal with 
God, he, as " Son of Man," is not only human, but more 
human than any individual of our race can be ; he is 
the normal man in whom the race is summed up and 
represented. And it is this central character, this affilia- 
tion with our common nature, which qualifies him to be 
our judge. " As the Father has life in himself, so hath 



*In reply to the stale sophistry that Trinitarians believe in 
three Gods, it is unnecessary to go into any theological discus- 
sion ; it is enough that they reject any such heresy. They may 
not be able (who is able ?) to explain this " £reat mystery of god- 
liness ;" but when Jesus commanded baptism to be administered 
in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, he cer- 
tainly did not teach tri-theism, and those who believe in the 
Trinity believe only in one God. Socinians know this, and 
therefore ought not to repeat this cavil. 



The Judgment. 131 



he given to the Son to have life in himself, and hath 
given him authority to execute judgment also, because lie 
is the Son of Man" 

I. Entering, without farther preface, into this im- 
portant subject, I begin by remarking, with the best of 
the German commentators, that when Jesus speaks here 
of the judgment, he does not refer only — though, of 
course, he refers chiefly — to the last great assizes. " He 
that believeth not is condemned already." The sentence 
of that awful day will be but a manifestation, an eternal 
confirmation, of the decisions which every man's con- 
duct is now attracting upon himself. And what I wish 
you first to observe is, that the authority to judge noiu is 
a mysterious power exercised by Jesus as the Son of Man, 
'and " because he is the Son of Man." 

This may surprise you. Everywhere in the Scriptures 
God is declared to be the "judge of all the earth ;" and 
the execution of this office is so manifestly a divine pre- 
rogative, requiring divine attributes, that we would ex- 
pect to find this authority ascribed to Christ because he 
is the Son of God. The text informs us, however, that 
he is constituted judge because he is invested with hu- 
manity. A truth this, which deserves our close atten- 
tion. 

The prophets could address only the ear ; but no soon- 
er is the Son incarnate, than it is announced that he 
would be a new living, moral, judicial power, searching 
the inmost secrets of men's bosoms, and discovering 
their characters. " Behold this child is set for the fall 
and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which 
shall be spoken against, that the thoughts of many hearts 
may be revealed" Wherever this novel and wonderful 
Presence shall come in contact with men, a test will be 
applied, unwelcome, repulsive to their pride and cor- 
ruption, for it shall pierce through all concealments, 
and judge and try their most hidden thoughts and feel- 
ings. 

Such was the remarkable prediction, and in the entire 
life and ministry of the Redeemer we find its fulfillment. 
Open any one of the Gospels, and what immediately 



132 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

strikes you ? It is that One Being hath stood upon 
this earth, who was not only so wonderfully allied to 
Deity that he could familiarly address God as his Fath- 
er, but was the catholic man, so bound to humanity by 
occult and interlacing affinities that all — humble and 
noble — rich and poor — virtuous and vicious — felt and 
confessed his inscrutable potency over them. To the 
eye of sense he was an obscure, uneducated Hebrew 
youth ; yet the very first tones of his voice thrilled the 
heart of humanity to its very core. He commenced his 
ministry in villages, but was often in Jerusalem, and 
soon traversed Judea; and everywhere those he addressed 
were compelled to acknowledge that they were listening 
to one who spake not only of but from eternity. " He 
taught them as one having authority, and not as the 
scribes." His words fell upon them with strange irre- 
sistible power, not because he used the style of the 
philosophers or orators, but because he uttered truths 
which at once convicted, commanded, controlled. It 
was known that he was unlettered ; yet at the age of 
twelve the most learned and venerable doctors listened to 
him with astonishment. His original, deep, searching 
addresses shook their minds, consciences, hearts, and 
caused the multitudes to exclaim, " Whence hath this 
man this wisdom ?" And on a memorable occasion, 
when a deputation was sent by the sanhedrim to arrest 
him, you remember what took place. The officers no 
sooner come into his presence than they are themselves 
arrested and disarmed ; their gaze is at once riveted upon 
that mysterious form ; their ears drink in with amaze- 
ment the wonderful words which flow all meltingly and 
burningly from his lips, and they go back, not with their 
captive, but themselves captive to his imperial sway. 

The writ commanded them to take him. The return to 
that process was one without a precedent, wholly un- 
known to the books of criminal practice, unheard of 
before or since in the proceedings of courts and the con- 
duct of bailiffs and sheriffs. They do not say, He can- 
not be found, or, He has been rescued or defended by 
violence. Upon the instrument were endorsed only these 
words, " Never man spake like this man." 



The Judgment. 133 



" That his words were with power," all felt; and, be- 
yond a doubt, there was an unearthly, subduing majesty 
in his air, — in that countenance which caused even 
demoniacs to fall down at his feet — in the voice which 
stilled the tempest — in the eye which melted Peter's in- 
most soul. But, apart from all this, no one can glance 
at the spiritual doctrines uttered by Jesus, and which 
came from his mind as their original source, without 
feeling that the Living Word was among men, that 
Word which is the manifestation of eternal truth, the 
" true light " searching and exposing every hidden 
thing. 

Just observe, in the first place, how he holds the 
mirror up to the nation in which he lived, and reveals it 
to itself in all its deformity. Jesus appeared in an age 
of great moral degeneracy and corruption. Yice and 
depravity contaminated all classes of society. Selfish- 
ness, pride, ambition, covetousness, reigned everywhere; 
while humility, purity, forgiveness, charity and other 
noble virtues were almostunknown. With a fidelity and 
firmness which nothing could conquer; with an authori- 
ty springing from conscious superiority to the world and 
perfect unimpeachable holiness, Jesus exposed the true 
character of the age. Not only was humanity utterly 
debased, but its conscience was stupefied. He awoke 
that conscience, he became himself that conscience, " he 
was the true light enlightening every man." The nation 
instinctively felt — as nations now feel — that he had 
authority to execute judgment upon its utter degradation. 
And he was still more severe and awful in denouncing 
the religious corruptions and hypocrisy of the day. 
The Scribes and Pharisees arrogated great sanctity, and 
so imposed upon the masses by this exterior saintliness 
that all did them homage. Jesus stood alone in his 
bold, consuming condemnation of these pretenders. 
While the people were admiring the outward whiteness 
of these purists, he exposed their inward hollowness and 
rottenness. Nor did he only cause these impostors to 
feel their personal hypocrisy. The established religion 
was a wretched system of dead formulas, of lifeless, 
fossil semblances; he denounced it with an authoritative- 



134 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

ness which inspired awe, which at once shook the mag- 
nificent temple, the gorgeous altars, and all the deep 
foundations of that venerable superstition. 

Then, in the next place, see how he deals with sin. 
Before his day moral teachers had delivered vague essays 
about virtue and vice. In his teachings the evil of sin 
is first clearly proclaimed. He required the internal, 
spiritual reign of God; and the malignity of sin, as 
rebellion against God, he constantly denounced. Sin — 
not poverty, nor disease, nor affliction — was, with him, 
the dire curse of humanity; and all were defiled with 
sin. ISTor could any withstand the convictions which 
his presence sent home to their consciences. Never was 
guilty man treated with such tenderness and compassion. 
Himself the essential purity, and revealing in his dis- 
courses a standard of holiness to which we still look up 
and feel its heavenly origin and glory — he yet mingled 
as a brother with those whom the world walled off from 
its intercourse; so that his enemies opprobiously styled 
him "the friend of publicans and sinners." By this 
sympathy he reclaimed the vilest from that sense of 
general contempt which makes a man desperate, from 
that self-contempt which is more fatal still ; and inspired 
some of that self-respect and confidence without which 
the fallen are hopelessly lost. 

But — while he was thus compassionate to the lost, 
and sought with intense solicitude to save them — never 
was sin made to appear so exceeding sinful as when it 
stood in his presence, and was rebuked by his calm, yet 
awful severity. " The law came by Moses, but grace and 
truth by Jesus Christ." Not grace only, but grace and 
truth ; grace which pitied, attracted, softened, sanctified, 
saved; but truth which pervaded, laid bare the inmost 
recesses of the heart, bringing to light the hidden cor- 
ruptions there, forcing the conscience to hear the voice 
of One who had authority to judge, and thus doing 
what the law could not do. It is to me very wonderful 
to observe how all flocked about this mysterious Being ; 
and yet how his approach caused the most virtuous to ex- 
claim, " Depart from us for we are sinful men." As 
Son of Man, representing our common humanity, the 



The Judgment. 135 



fibres of his universal love and sympathy " drew all men 
unto him." But in him humanity was immaculate, the 
incarnation of divine holiness. And, thus, while it at- 
tracted all to him, there went forth from him emana- 
tions of truth and purity which flashed directly into 
every man's conscience, setting his secret sins in the 
light of God's countenance, causing him to tremble in 
the consciousness that all things w T ere naked and open 
to the eyes of him with whom he had to do. 

This fearfulness of sin which Jesus first announced is 
not, in his estimate, owing to any or all of its outward 
consequences; it is its blight and curse upon the soul. 
And in his revelation of the soul we find another ele- 
ment of judicial power in the Son of Man. Now, when 
man's spiritual nature has been clearly revealed, it is a 
truth which all confess ; but when the Saviour appeared 
this sublime verity was almost lost. Feeble voices, dim 
echoes would sometimes rise up from the depths of 
humanity, giving inarticulate admonitions of a spiritual 
and immortal essence ; their faint murmurs were, how- 
ever, soon drowned in the clamors of the senses and 
passions. Next to the knowledge of God, the greatest 
boon which can be conferred upon man, is the knowledge 
of himself. Jesus bestowed this gift; he revealed the 
soul ; and, in thus opening within man the consciousness 
of a spiritual existence, he brought him at once to a 
sense of responsibility, of accountability after death, of 
capacities for infinite and eternal happiness or misery. 
Human tribunals — dungeons — chains — racks — scaffolds 
flames — he taught men to despise, when they were ar- 
rayed against truth; they could not reach the soul; and 
death would emancipate that soul from the fiercest 
malice of earth. But who could rescue the soul from 
that tremendous Judge into w T hose hands death would 
deliver it? 

These solemn appeals, warnings, entreaties invested 
the Eedeemer with a power over men against which they 
vainly strove to fortify themselves. When he uttered 
that portentous question, " What will it profit a man if 
he gain the whole world and lose his own soul ?" all were 
speechless ; for the enquiry found its prompt and appalling 
ii 6* 



136 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

answer in every man's own bosom. And it was "because 
he was the Son of Man," that Jesus dealt thus directly 
and really with the soul. So dismal and ghastly a phe- 
nomenon is a race of spiritual immortal beings sunk into 
oblivion of their dignity and glory — imbruting themselves 
in their senses — and passing to everlasting perdition — 
that it requires no effort of imagination to suppose some 
spirit in a better world anxious to hasten from his sphere, 
that in accents of love and indignation he might expostu- 
late and plead with men against this monstrous infatua- 
tion and guilt. But an angel could only stand apart 
arguing with a race too blind and sensual to heed his 
words. The Son of Man identified himself with this 
race. He not only "came into the world/' but he en- 
tered into our humanity; thus gaining access to its 
heart, that from the core his words might vibrate 
through all our natures. He took into communion with 
deity a human soul as well as a human body. And, as 
all souls belong to the same family, he thus put himself 
in communication with man, not only by words addressed 
to the outward ear, but by affinities and sympathies which 
were spiritual, which would strike congenial chords and 
awaken responsive echoes. 

In dealing with mankind, Jesus appealed from his own 
consciousness directly to the consciousness of humanity. 
It was this communion with our nature which qualified 
him to be a merciful High Priest, touched with the feel- 
ing of our infirmities, shedding ineffable consolation into 
the contrite soul. But this identification gave resistless 
authority and unspeakable terror to his condemnation of 
the impenitent. We all know that the soul is endow r ed 
with an internal sense, which Jesus calls "the light 
within us;" and which informs every man distinctly 
what is his true character. To this inward witness the 
Saviour constantly addressed himself; and — while con- 
soling the penitent — with what a mysterious power did 
he expose dissimulation and hypocrisy, compelling them 
to become their own judges and executioners. Stainless 
purity himself, yet the ruined woman who falls abashed 
at his feet, her tears streaming through those pale fingers 
with which she seeks to hide her blushing face — is made to 



The Judgment. 137 



feel for the first time that she has one true friend ; that 
she is not utterly lost. But her Pharisaical accusers 
quail as their own sins begin to find them out, and has- 
ten to escape from a judge whose few words arrayed all 
their hidden crimes against them, unmasked their 
duplicity, and smote them to the quick with shame and 
confusion. "And they which heard it, being convicted 
by their own consciences, went out one by one, beginning 
at the eldest even unto the last." Omniscience alone can 
discern the facts which are within the consciousness of 
all men ; but Jesus " knew all men," "he knew what was 
in man." It is several times declared that he " knew 
the thoughts of those who came to him, and a single 
word, a look from him could and did anticipate " that 
hour, when God shall judge the secrets of men's hearts, 
by Jesus Christ." 

You see, then, that, while the Son of Man was the im- 
personation of love and sympathy, the holiness of God 
was so incarnate in him, that it everywhere extorted a 
sense of guilt. He had authority to execute judgment 
because he was the Son of Man. And he exercises the 
same authority still. This truth is to me the more wonder- 
ful the more I reflect upon it, that Christ's life and min- 
istry were so brief, that he composed no volumes to pre- 
serve and transmit his doctrines; and, yet, that — while 
the influence of other teachers has passed away and they 
are forgotten, or known only through history — he still 
lives, the world daily hears his voice, humanity still feels 
his spiritual presence and judicial power. Wherever the 
Gospel is preached, there is a criterion which immedi- 
ately puts men's characters upon trial. The prophecy 
is now constantly fulfilling which declared that, by the 
mysterious incarnation of Bethlehem, the thoughts of 
men's hearts should be revealed. At this hour — as dis- 
tinctly as when he moved visibly among men — this earth 
confesses the jurisdiction of Him who has authority to 
execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. 

I am anxious, my friends, to press upon you this 
solemn thought, that now, each day and hour, judgment 
is going on upon each of us; for it is not the certainty, 
but the nearness of an event which rouses and alarms us. 



138 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

It has got to be a proverb, that all men live as if they 
were never to die, yet death is of all things the most in- 
evitable. And so, nobody doubts a judgment to come, 
but upon whose hearts and lives does this awful truth 
exert any practical influence ? " By faith Noah, being 
warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with 
fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house." He 
regarded the flood as every day at hand; but who im- 
itates that patriarch now, when God warns us of so tre- 
mendous a day ? The fact is that, our very familiarity 
with the doctrine of a judgment after death has divested 
it of its power to move us. As Paul reasoned on this 
fearful theme, Felix, a heathen, trembled; while Drusilla 
sat at his side in cold indifference to the muttering thun- 
ders of the wrath to come. And the explanation of this 
strange spectacle is found, not only in the truth that 
wherever woman falls she becomes more hardened than 
man, but in the fact, that Drusilla was a Jewess, and 
accustomed to hear of that dreadful tribunal. I have, 
therefore, wished to remind you of a present judgment, 
as to which, perhaps, you have not often been admon- 
ished ; of a judgment you are every hour passing upon 
yourselves, of issues which you are preparing now. 

II. While, however, it is certain that the text alludes 
to the judgment passed in this life, its chief reference is 
to the judgment after death. You cannot be too trem- 
blingly conscious that you are now making up the re- 
cords. But the thought which lends awful solemnity to 
this consciousness, is the hour when these records shall 
be finally reviewed ; it is the great and terrible day of 
the Lord, which shall yet burst in fire and vengeance 
upon this guilty world, when the great white throne 
shall be spread, and every man shall be judged out of the 
open books. 

What can I say to you of that day ? A day of which 
we have abundant premonitions. " Ye, brethren, are not 
in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." 
" God hath given assurance to all men that he will judge 
the earth;" assurance in the disorders all around us, 
which must be adjusted, if the Judge of all the earth 



The Judgment. 139 



does right — in the oppression, cruelty, tyranny — in those 
horrid crimes the authors of which are never detected — 
in the vices which human laws do not reach — in the acts 
of fraud and violence which evade all law — in the hypo- 
crisy which gratifies the vilest passions under the cloak 
of religion — and in the rapacity which rifles the widow 
and orphan and battens on their spoils; assurance in the 
consciences of men — all carrying within them the con- 
viction of sin, and feeling that conscious guilt is pro- 
phetic of a future judgment; assurance full, explicit, in 
the revelation which has been given us — not only in de- 
tached passages, but in the entire scope and toue of the 
Bible, in all its doctrines, threats, precepts, promises. 

A day on which sin shall be seen in its true char- 
acter. Men make a rnook at sin now, but then they 
will stand aghast at its malignity. Everywhere I see 
intelligible symptoms of God's estimate of sin. Earth- 
quakes, pestilences, famines, pangs of conscience, cries of 
anguish, diseases wasting our frames, cruel strokes deso- 
lating our families, graves yawning beneath our feet — so 
many tokens these of God's hatred of sin. But all these 
are only faint preludes of wrath. In a burning, blazing 
world behold the unsearchable atrocity of sin ! — in fiery 
floods deluging this planet, in the dissolving elements, in 
the heavens shriveled like a scroll. The house defiled 
with the fretting leprosy was to be taken down, every 
timber and brick. The garment stained with spreading 
leprosy was to be burned. And this earth, touched, pol- 
luted by sin, must be dismantled, must be purged by de- 
vouring flames, which the resentments of eternal justice 
shall kindle. 

In that day, amidst the awful pomp and equipage of 
that tribunal, in what majesty will the Son of Man be re- 
vealed. Vainly do the Scriptures ascribe to Jesus all the 
attributes and prerogatives of deity ; men still seek to 
strike the crown from his head. But before that august 
audience their folly and impiety will stand rebuked.— 
u When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all 
the holy angels with him;" when "he shall sit upon the 
throne of his glory;" when "before him shall be gathered 
all nations;" when " he shall judge the secrets of all 



140 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

hearts;" when "he shall judge the quick and the dead 
at his appearing and kingdom;" when the sovereign 
voice which called all things into being by a word, shall, 
by a word, command the heavens and the earth to pass 
away, and shall decide the destiny of the righteous and 
the wicked; then, then, none will dispute his royalty; 
every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess the celes- 
tial glory of the King immortal and eternal. 

In the disclosures of that day every man shall see, not only 
his Judge, but another being, the knowledge of whom he 
had shunned with the most perverse dexterity. We now 
desire, not an enlightened but a quiet conscience. Peo- 
ple say, they are seeking salvation, when they are only 
seeking to lull themselves. The hour is coming when 
our true character shall be made manifest. " We must 
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ;" appear 
as we really are — such is the meaning of the word. We 
must, not only be present, but have our inmost souls 
brought to light. 

In short, the passions and the idols of those passions, 
salvation and the grandeurs of salvation — study these in 
the light of the final Judgment. The world and the 
things of the world which now charm and intoxicate us, 
what are they ? only a stupendous magazine of fuel, "Al I 
these things must be dissolved," "shall be burned up," 
must become a funeral pile, a vast pyral conflagration. 
But the salvation of the Gospel, how gtorious will it then 
be ; filling the believer with transports amidst the con- 
vulsions of expiring nature; inspiring ineffable tranquil- 
lity while the heavens are lined with flaming cherubim ; 
causing him to exult and triumph when surrounded by 
the fires which, like a red winding sheet, wrap a universe 
and bury it in ruins. The entire French nation wor- 
shiped Louis the Fourteenth, styling him "the Great." 
At his funeral the " Holy Chapel" was crowded with 
nobles and princes who all wept aloud when Massillon, 
placing his hand upon the royal coffin, exclaimed, " My 
brethren, God alone is great, and great especially when 
he presides over a scene like this." Soon, my friends, 
soon you and I shall be present at a far more imposing 
spectacle ; at the obsequies, not of a king, but of a world. 



The Judgment. 141 



And then, before such a catastrophe — at such a funer- 
al — with the sun blackened as sackcloth of hair, and the 
moon changed into blood, and the stars falling from hea- 
ven, and the powers of the heaven shaken, and the hea- 
vens passing away with a great noise, and the elements 
melting with fervent heat, and the earth consumed and 
all that is therein — then, then, how contemptible will 
all human greatness appear. There, there, how will every- 
thing preach to us of the grandeur of Jesus and of re- 
demption in Jesus. 

Winds, storms, tempests, thunders, lightnings, raging 
flames, dissolving elements, the archangel's trump smit- 
ing the silence of the tomb, the universal air blazing with 
disastrous splendors, " the tribes of the earth mourning 
and beating their breasts," the wicked " calling on moun- 
tains and hills to fall upon them and cover them, the 
shouts of the saved, the howlings of the damned— all, all 
will then utter once voice, all will pierce our very souls 
with their tones ; all will repeat these words, God alone 
is great, and God's salvation alone deserved the cares, 
toils, sacrifices of an immortal spirit. 




142 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



Sermon Si^ntn. 



THE JUDGMENT. 

[second sermon on the text.] 

" For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment 
unto the Son." "And hath given him authority to execute judgment 
also, because he is the Son of Man."— John v: 22, 27. 

THAT there is a judgment now taking place, and one 
day to be consummated; of this I have attempted to 
speak in our former discourse. But of what avail will it 
be thus to warn you, unless you know what, under the 
Gospel, is the issue, the single issue in this judgment? 
Hear me then upon this point. And as the great assizes 
will only sum up and confirm the decisions which are 
now every day passed upon us, I will confine myself to 
the general j udgment after death. 

Now in examining this eternally momentous subject, 
remark, I beg you, how very emphatic the Scriptures are 
in admonishing us, that it is to be the Son of Man who 
is to be the judge of all the earth; and that the inquest 
at the last day will have reference exclusively to him. — 
Upon this matter people entertain I know not what 
vague unchristian notions. They think and speak as if 
the question hereafter would turn upon men's conduct 
under the law. But if this were to be the enquiry, 
how could a single child of Adam prepare to meet his 
God? If the verdict is to be decided by our obedience 
or disobedience to the law, it were worse than vain for 
me to stand here reasoning with you of a judgment 
to come; our sermons could be only prophecies of 
terror against which no heart could bear up. For as to 
any hope that God will not enforce his law, no one can 



The Judgment. 143 



cherish this without impiety; and the more earnestly 
we seek perfection by the works of the law, the more 
must we be overwhelmed by a " certain fearful looking 
for of judgment and fiery indignation." 

It is a great advantage that upon such a point we are 
left in no uncertainty; the Judge himself having drawn 
up a brief for us — thus putting into our hands a written 
copy of every count in the indictment, upon which we 
are to be arraigned. This protocol we have in the twen- 
ty-fifth chapter of Matthew's Gospel. And I ask you to 
weigh every word while I read it. 

" When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the 
holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his 
glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall 
separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep 
from the goats; and he shall set the sheep upon the right hand, 
but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on 
his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
prepared for you from the foundation of the world ; for I was 
a hungered, and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty and ye gave me 
drink, 1 was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye 
clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me ; I was was in prison, 
and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, say- 
ing, Lord, when saw we thee a hungered and fed thee? or thirsty 
and gave thee drink? when saw we thee a stranger and took thee 
in ? or naked and clothed thee? or when saw we thee sick, or in 
prison and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and 
say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done 
it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it un- 
to me. Then shall he also say unto them on his left hand, De- 
part from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the 
devil and his angels; for I was a hungered, and ye gave me no 
meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ; I was a stranger, 
and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not ; sick and 
in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer 
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, or athirst, or a 
stranger, or naked, or sick and in prison, and did not minister 
unto thee ? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto 
you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye 
did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting pun- 
ishment ; but the righteous into life eternal." 



144 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

Here you have the articles of impeachment, and the 
whole programme of the trial. I know it has been 
usual to regard this language of Jesus, as simply incul- 
cating benevolence ; and surely such an appeal ought to 
be irresistible. Were I preaching a charity sermon, I 
could certainly desire no better vantage ground from 
which to ply the heart and conscience of the Christian. 
Look at this beggar who stands at your door ; enter that 
dungeon and sit beside the prisoner whom persecution 
and tyranny have entombed there; come into this filthy 
lane, "into this damp dark cellar, and see that man 
wasted by penury and disease. Who is this beggar ? 
Who this prisoner ? who this wretched victim of poverty 
and sickness ? Suppose, in that starving pauper you 
were to discover an old fellow-soldier who had stood 
shoulder to shoulder with you when battling for your 
country, and had sheltered you from death; suppose, in 
that pining captive, or in that emaciated form shrinking 
into a sordid hut, pierced by wintry winds and parched 
by fever, you recognized your brother, your father, your 
own son; would not your soul melt in tenderness and 
compassion ? would not your heart yearn and your eyes 
swim with tears, and all your nature leap forward in 
prompt cheerful ministries of love and devotion ? Ah, 
Christian, listen to your Saviour. That beggar is more 
to you than an old companion in arms who covered your 
head in the day of battle ; the inmate of that gloomy 
dungeon, that prostrate drooping sufferer, is nearer to 
you than brother, or father, or child ; that beggar is 
bound to you by spiritual ties; that prisoner, that suf- 
ferer is identified with your Redeemer; he is the repre- 
sentative of your Kedeemer ; he is one with that Redeem- 
er who loved you and died for you, who is to you the 
chiefest among ten thousand and altogether lovely, more 
precious than the dearest earthly object. 

It wduld, however, be a very inadequate construction 
of this remarkable passage, thus to limit our interpreta- 
tion of its import. If Jesus here teaches charity, it is 
only by indirection. His immediate object is to furnish 
the tests which shall be applied to our characters in the 
day of Judgment. And, now, the more carefully you 



The Judgment. 145 



examine his words, the more clearly will you perceive 
how thorough the criterion ; and, also, how entirely this 
criterion has reference to the Son of Man. Examine 
each of these thoughts; for, indeed, they deserve your 
closest attention. 

I have said that the tests enumerated by Jesus are 
thorough, and the truth of this assertion you must at 
once feel. For observe, in the first place, how universal 
is this ordeal. Hunger, thirst, nakedness, sickness, deso- 
lateness, imprisonment — here are all the aspects 'of 
human misery as far as man can inflict it upon his fellow 
man. I say nothing of inward peace, for persecution 
cannot reach that ; nor of death, for that is a release 
from the troubles of the wicked ; but a little reflection 
will shew you that these six gloomy circles compass and 
comprehend the whole sphere in which oppression or 
cruelty can have power to afflict us. And what Jesus 
declares is, that, in his church, his cause, his truth, he 
is still upon the earth, where all who are faithful to him 
must pass through some of these stern ordeals. A 
Christian identifies himself with Jesus, and chooses 
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to 
enjoy the pleasures and honors of this world. Faith 
will keep the real Christian loyal to Jesus, no matter 
what he may have to endure. And at the Judgment the 
one enquiry will be as to this loyalty. The tests here 
grouped together are thorough, then, because wherever 
the Gospel goes, they will put to the proof all profes- 
sions of love for the Saviour. 

And these tests are thorough, too, because they are en- 
tirely practical. What did you suffer? What were you 
willing to sacrifice for Jesus and his truth? this is the 
only question. Upon searching the presentments sup- 
plied by the Judge, I find not one word about matters 
which have rent the church and deluged the earth with 
blood. The true church, the apostolic ministry, the sa- 
cramental virtues — 0, how has society been cursed, how 
have families been embittered and hearts empoisoned — 
how has communion been arrayed against communion, 
and preacher against preacher, by polemical strife and 
intolerance about theological subtilties. What envy 



146 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

hatred, malice, uncharitableness ; what pride, insolence, 
arrogance; what fierce resentment, and mutual anathe- 
mas, — and all about what? about so much abstruse meta- 
physical jargon. In the programme which the Judge 
has given there is no sort of allusion to these things. — 
Nor is there any inquisition into the abstract niceties of 
faith ; for there the simple unlearned disciple would be 
silenced, and profound scholiasts, doctors and hierophants 
would claim academical honors. Nor is the enquiry about 
frames and feelings and fervors, for then flaming enthus- 
iasts would carry everything by their inward raptures 
and rhapsodies. What did you endure ? — what did you 
stand ready to endure for Christ and his cause ? this will 
be the only enquiry. It is a test wholly practical. And 
as adversity is the touchstone of friendship — our misfor- 
tunes revealing what our friends are to us, while our 
prosperity shows what we are to them — as " a friend lov- 
eth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity/' the 
real state of the heart will be probed and sifted by these 
austere trials; there will be no possible plea or sub- 
terfuge or evasion. 

You see, then, the thoroughness of the ordeal to which 
all will be subjected at the Judgment. Now look at the 
other character of this ordeal, and mark how entirely it 
has reference to the Son of Man, how exclusively the 
whole procedure will be under the Gospel. It is, indeed, 
only when we bear this great truth in mind, that we can 
explain the contrasted emotions of the two parties (for 
there will be only two) before that awful judgment 
throne. 

Looking into the prophetic record just now unfolded, 
we find those on the left hand overwhelmed with disap- 
pointment and dismay ; and why ? Because, as I have 
said, the issue to be tried is altogether evangelical and, 
therefore no account whatever is taken of all upon which 
they had prided themselves and made sure of heaven. — 
To understand the force of the manifesto now before us, 
you must remember, that those who vainly attempt to 
make out a case, are not the vicious and dishonest, but 
the upright and honorable. Such men, while uncon- 
verted, are always filled with self-complacency, and 



The Judgment. 147 



pique themselves upon their integrity, their virtues, their 
good deeds, and acts of benevolence. But the Judge 
rules out all these pleas and suggestions, as wholly ir- 
relevant; and regarding them with a stern eye, requires 
them to answer an indictment every count of which 
charges them with unbelief in him, with disobedience to 
him, with disloyalty to him, with the rejection of his 
sovereignty and the dishonor of his royalty. This it is 
which smites their very souls with confusion and con- 
sternation ; — this, that their stainless honor and high- 
toned sentiments and various accomplishments and 
amiabilities all pass for nothing, since they stand con- 
victed of contempt, rebellion, high treason against the 
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

Men and brethren, hear me on this great theme ; a 
theme so constantly pressed upon you, and yet as to 
which you seem resolved to remain wilfully blind. The 
Gospel is the only overture which insulted heaven makes, 
or will ever make, to guilty man ; and salvation through 
faith in Jesus is the only hope known in the Gospel. Wher- 
ever this Gospel is preached there are two parties; those 
who are with Christ, and those who are against him. 
Middle ground there can be none; for the Judge has 
said, " He that is not with me, is against me." Those 
who receive Christ will be saved entirely through his 
atonement. " There is no condemnation to them that 
are in Christ Jesus." "He that believeth on him is not 
condemned." But those who are not in Christ must 
perish. " He that believeth not is condemned already." 
I honor and admire in many who are not Christians, 
virtues which adorn public life and shed a mild and 
winning lustre over the domestic circle; but love for 
Jesus is no more an element in their excellences than in 
their sins. Their virtues are as constant in dishonoring 
him as their vices ; their tears only nourish delusive 
hopes. Under the law man is ruined and undone. We 
are not now under the legal, but the Gospel constitution 
in ihe economy of which, all hope, all virtue, all holi- 
ness, all salvation are comprehended in loyalty to the 
Kedeemer. The whole of life is an experiment of this 
loyalty. At the Judgment this loyalty will be the only 



148 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

subject of investigation ; and justly will the Son of Man 
reject those who rejected him. On every page of the 
New Testament unbelief in Jesus is the great, essential, 
crowning, damning sin ; and with reason ; for it insults 
the Father who gave his Son to die for man ; it despises 
the Holy Spirit whose office it is to " glorify " this Son ; 
and it pours contempt upon the love and mercy and 
majesty of that Son. Those on the left of the tribunal 
must, then, awake to shame and everlasting contempt, 
when they stand convicted of this comprehensive and 
aggravated guilt, — in extenuation or mitigation of which 
it is just nothing to set up a plea of natural amiability 
and justice and generosity. 

This willful ignorance of themselves, and of the 
economy under which they are placed, causes men to 
resemble the pharisee described by Jesus; who urged 
his scrupulous performances, not only as a ground for 
pardon, but as possessing merit before God. In that 
parable it is not denied that the boaster who paraded 
his worth in the temple, really made a fair exhibit. In 
fact, he did not pitch his morality very high, and could 
appeal to heaven for his sincerity. He is condemned 
because he urges his services as a claim against God. 
And just so here in the Saviour's account of the Judg- 
ment, there is against those on the left hand no imputa- 
tion of falsehood in arrogating virtues they did not 
possess. They had discharged offices^of clemency and 
benevolence, but here was the great mistake; because 
these actions are meritorious with men, they believed 
them to be meritorious with God. This perverse blind- 
ness will be at once dissipated at the Judgment; when 
they will see — what we vainly repeat again and again now 
— that merit lays God under obligation, impossible in any 
creature, impossible in the holiest angel, and the very 
thought of it, therefore, an impious presumption in guilty 
fallen man. 

" Ye did it not unto me." Whatever they do, Jesus is 
not the object of their service and allegiance; this is the 
condemnation of the men of the world now, this will 
cause them to stand speechless at the Judgment and will 
seal their doom forever. All this you readily understand ; 
but you may not so easily comprehend the answer of those 



The Judgment. 149 



on the right hand. They, too, exclaim, "Lord when?" 
"Lord where?" — and how is this to be explained ? The 
same great truth which I have just indicated at once 
resolves all difficulty here, and interprets the.se earnest 
depreciations and deprecations. The salvation of the 
Gospel is entirely by faith, a faith which renounces all 
merit in human works and reposes upon the atonement. 
This is the only ground upon which a Christian can 
consent to be saved. When, then, they hear their services 
applauded, the redeemed are filled with ingenuous con- 
fusion; and at once disclaim honors not due to them, 
but to him who called them and sustained them by his 
grace. 

Good works. Yes, during life they had been "careful 
to maintain good works ;" but who was the author and 
finisher of that faith by which these works were wrought ? 
Who worked in them to will and to do of his own good 
pleasure ? Not one of them but had exclaimed, over 
and over, in all his trials and triumphs, "By the grace of 
God, I am, what I am." "I live, yet not I, but Christ 
liveth in me." 

Good works. Yes, their faith did vindicate its sincer- 
ity by works, but what works ? Such motives, such a 
debt of gratitude, so many opportunities, yet so little 
done ! — so much forgiven, yet so little love and devotion! 
— ah, if forever banished, it would be strictly just; but 
to be commended for fidelity; to have the Judge say, 
"Well done good and faithful servants" — this humbles 
them and they stand abashed by conscious unworthiness. 

Above all, Him ! Jesus ! My beloved brethren, when 
we shall see him seated upon the throne of his glory, en- 
circled by the homage of adoring angels, we will com- 
prehend, as we cannot now, all the love and condescen- 
sion which stooped to our ruined humanity, and wel- 
comed the cross and the shame for us. And then — if 
life had been protracted to the years of Methusaleh, and 
if the whole of that life had been one long stern martyr- 
dom, we would abhor the thought that any return had 
been made for such amazing mercy. Then we will ex- 
claim — with utter, unutterable self-renunciation, self- 
annihilation — " Lord, when, where was anything done by 



150 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

us worthy of thine approbation ? No, thou, Lord, art 
worthy to receive praise and honor and glory. Worthy 
is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and riches, 
and wisdom, and strength, and honor and glory and 
blessing. Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name 
be all the glory. Unto us belongeth shame and confu- 
sion of face, Unto him that loved us and washed us 
from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings 
and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory 
and dominion forever and ever. Amen." 

" The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all 
judgment unto the Son!" "And hath given him au- 
thority to execute judgment also because he is the Son of 
Man." My friends, this is a truth of the deepest interest 
to us all. It is the future which makes man great. — 
God's dealings with us, the economy of his providence 
and grace can only be explained by the fact, that we are 
fallen yet immortal spirits. Mortified and humbled by 
the sense of our vileness and ignorance here, there is yet 
something within us which awakens the noblest aspira- 
tions and anticipations reaching into eternity; and our 
destiny in eternity we are every hour determining, by 
our conduct towards that Being who will judge us, who 
is now judging us. 

" The Son of Man," these words are fall of meaning. 
Jesus delighted in this title because it proclaimed his 
identity with sinless humanity. How intensely human 
were his love, his tenderness, his pity, his heart, his life, 
his death ; and it is this perfect manhood with which 
we have to do in salvation.* " The Son of Man is come 
to seek and to save that which was lost." When Jesus 
came forth, wearing the purple robe and the crown of 
thorns, Pilate said, " Behold the man !" In that mysteri- 
ous sufferer let us behold the Man, the generic, central, 
normal Man; and this Man, the Saviour and Judge. 
His affinity with our common humanity qualifies him to 
be " the Saviour of all men;" for his sympathy is univer- 
sal. And this sympathy is, at the same time, intensely 
individual, so that he is the brother of every particular 
man. Hence the Gospel is not only a catholicon, but a 
specific; not only "the power of God unto salvation," 



The Judgment. 151 



but "the power of God unto salvation to every one that 
believeth." 

This Son of Man, this sacred Incarnation of Love, this 
essential perfect representative Man — so divine that he is 
one with the Father, and yet so human that he "sticks 
closer," is more intimately and tenderly bound to us, 
"than a brother" — this mysterious Being is our Judge. 

My impenitent hearers, how are you affected by this 
thought? When 1 urge upon you the justice, holiness 
and love of God, I may seem to you to be dealing with 
abstractions, and you may not be reached ; but in speak- 
ing of the love and mercy of Jesus, of his condescension 
and wonderful self-sacrifice, I come home to your bosoms 
as men. I appeal to every grateful, noble, generous prin- 
ciple in your nature. If you will receive him, there is every 
encouragement and assurance. For he knows your frame, 
he remembers that you are but dust; and he invites you 
to come to him just as you are. He recollects his own sore 
temptations, and will in no wise cast you out, but will 
pardon all the past, and give you grace for all the future. 
If, however, you persist in your course, it is the truth 
just mentioned which will overwhelm you at the Judg- 
ment ; — this, that you rejected such a friend. Here is 
human love, and human love enduring such sorrow, wel- 
coming such a cross, despising such shame for you ; yet 
you spurn all this devotion. 

In that awful clay, it will be no invisible God myster- 
iously visiting the earth to execute judgment, it will be 
the Son of Man, it will be Jesus. You will then see 
that you trampled under foot a brother's heart ; and an- 
guish will wring your very soul, when you behold that 
face which was so often bathed in tears, that head once 
pierced by a crown all thorns, those hands and feet one ^ 
lacerated by nails, that form which was suspended on the 
cross ; and when you remember that all this accumulated 
contempt and wretchedness he longed for and bore, a 
willing, uncomplaining sufferer, for his deep devotion to 
you; and yet that you hated him, and chose to perish ra- 
ther than accept his earnest overtures of reconciliation 
and friendship. It is this which will fill the lost with 
horror and dismay, that they slighted such endearing 
ii 7 



152 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

affection, that in hardness and willfulness, they spurned a 
tenderness and loving kindness which angels forever ad- 
mire. The earth a rocking globe of fire, the heavens a 
sheeted flame rolling away, the beating storms, the bel- 
lowing peals, and all the fierce splendors of that day, will 
not be noticed; one object will absorb their guilty souls, 
and that object will be the Man upon the great white 
throne, " from whose face the earth and the heavens flee 
away." "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, 
and the rich men, and the chief captains and the mighty 
men, and every bondman and every freeman, hid them- 
selves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and 
said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us 
from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and 
from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath 
is come and who shall be able to stand ?" 

Christians, my dearly beloved brethren, how consoling 
is this thought to you. The Judge will be your Friend, 
your brother, the Redeemer who knows all your weakness, 
but knows that you love him, and who loves you with an 
everlasting love. How humanly he loved and pitied 
while he was upon earth; and he is "the same yesterday, 
to-day and forever." The same sympathizing High Priest 
who, from his own experience, now enters into all your 
temptations and sorrows, who now succors you in all 
your conflicts and trials, will then be robed in glory, will 
cover your defenceless head, will stretch out his arms to 
welcome yon, will forever vindicate the truth of his pro- 
mises and the efficacy of that atonement in which you 
confided. You may with joy anticipate the hour when 
the judgment shall be set and the books shall be opened; 
for you can say, " I know whom I have believed, and am 
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have com- 
mitted unto him against that day." 

Enter, my beloved hearers, into these thoughts. It is 
a great thing that the Judge himself has furnished the 
programme of the judgment which is rushing on ; let us 
study it carefully and prepare to meet our God. A little 
while and we shall all be blotted from this present life, 



The Judgment. 153. 



and who will miss us ? Some time ago astronomers de- 
clared that a star had disappeared. Who mourned that 
lost Pleiad ? Who looked up into the heavens and thought 
them less beautiful for that bereavement? But amid 
what scenes will the soul find itself when it passes from 
this earth ? " It is appointed unto all men once to die, 
and after death the judgment;" it is the latter clause of 
this announcement which reflects terror upon the former; 
the judgment invests death with its awfulness. Let us 
meditate solemnly upon the certainty of that judgment 



We are all approaching that dread tribunal. However 
diversified our paths, they all converge toward that com- 
mon centre. The young, with their elastic tread, are 
striding to the Judgment; the old, with their tottering 
limbs, are creeping to the Judgment; the rich in their 
splendid equipages are driving to the Judgment ; the poor, 
in rags and barefooted, are walking to the Judgment. The 
Christian, making God's statutes his song, is a pilgrim to 
the Judgment ; the sinner, treading upon the mercy of Jesus 
and trampling upon his blood, is hastening to the Judg- 
ment. " We must all appear before the judgment seat 
of Christ" Let this truth dwell in your mind. 

And add another reflection. This judgment will soon 
be here for us. The last Sabbath on which we shall hear 
the word of God will soon come; the last sickness will 
soon come ; the last look at our family weeping around 
our bed will soon come; and the dimming of our glazed 
eye, and the stopping of our frozen pulses, and the shroud 
and the coffin and the yawning grave, and the dread tri- 
bunal — all, all are ready; while 1 speak they are hurrying 
forward, and to-morrow they will overtake us. 

Meanwhile, Jesus is seeking to save us ; he is saying, 
" Behold, I stand at the door and knock." I, who am to 
be your Judge, am now your suitor. It is not with a 
sword to be dipped in your blood, but with the cross wetted 
with my blood, that I am beating at the door. The voice 
you hear is not that of anger, but of tender, beseeching 
love. Let me enter, he cries, for Death is coming, and 
he will not stand knocking, but will break right in. 



154 



Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



Yes, my friend, the Son of Man has long been at the 
door of your mind, your conscience, your heart; he is now 
there, knocking, pleading, intreating. And as you Com- 
ply or resist, you are with your own hand, writing a re- 
cord which the retributions of the last day shall forever 
confirm. You are either amassing a far more exceeding 
and an eternal weight of glory; or, "after your hardness 
and impenitent heart, you are treasuring up unto yourself 
wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the 
righteous judgment of God, when the Lord Jesus shall 
be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flam- 
ing tire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, 
and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from 
the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." 




Former Days. 155 



Sermon JLiutn. 



FORMER DAYS. 

" Say not thou, what is the cause that the former days were better 
than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning- this."— Eccl.. 
vii : 10. "But call to remembrance the former days."— Heb. x : 32. 

HE who believes the Bible readily understands the il- 
lusiveness of life, and why we instinctively speak of 
our present occupations as pursuits, not as fruitions. It 
is the future which makes man gr^at ; and it is that grand 
future which casts a shadow over him here, touching his 
soul with I know not what sadness as he feels that he is 
not what he was made to be. But instead of lofty aspira- 
tions after another and higher sphere of happiness, we 
are prone to turn our eyes to the past, and to indulge in 
pensive reveries upon former days, as if they "were better 
than these." We resemble passengers over a rough coun- 
try who complain of the ruggedness they endure on each 
portion of the road which is under them, but to whom 
the same road seems smooth and carpeted with the softest 
verdure as they look back upon it; distance producing in 
imagination the effects of a real perspective, — rounding, 
mellowing objects, and converting what is harsh into ten- 
der hues and golden mists. In fact, we are, during the 
whole of our lives, under illusions similar to the fallacious 
appearances which deceive the pilgrim in Arabian deserts. 
Each tract, while beneath the caravan, is a waste of 
parched and burning sand ; but no sooner has it been 
left far in the rear, than a miracle is wrought; the burn- 
ing earth has been smitten by the wand of an enchanter, 
and a blue refreshing lake has gushed up from the ground. 
And far in advance, too, the same cool waters invite the 
weary traveller only to mock and deride him. 



156 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

As to this unapproachable mirage in the future I do 
not say anything to-day. To be sure it would be almost 
a cruel satire on humanity if I should contrast the feel- 
ings of the young as, flushed and exultant, they set out 
for their promised land, with the stern experiences and 
sad confessions of advancing years. But hope is, after 
all, a most happy deception. In worldly, as in heavenly 
affairs, "we are saved by hope." It still allures us on. — 
Its beguilements keep us ever at work; and, O child of 
earth, man, woman, next to religion, bless God for work! 

It is of the past I am going to speak, and I have put 
together as our text two verses which counsel us as to 
the past. Let us take up the first of these passages, 
which rebukes a very common folly, and admonishes us 
not to say, " What is the cause that the former days were 
better than these ?" 

I. To understand this advice, we must bear in mind that 
there is here no censure upon those regrets which natural- 
ly arise in our souls as we review our own unfaithfulness. 
The remote aspects of so many years which are gone ; 
the changes in our families, in the circle of our friend- 
ships, in the economy of our own thoughts, views, feel- 
ings — these tell us how our sun is westering, how much 
of our little span is finished. During this period, had 
we but been faithful, had we wrought each day for wor- 
thy ends, how different now would be our characters, 
and how different, perhaps, the condition of those for 
whose salvation we would cheerfully lay down our lives. 
Ten, twenty, thirty years have rolled by since the duties 
and responsibilities of a spiritual, immortal being have 
devolved upon me ; how mortifying the retrospect. In 
knowledge, usefulness, holiness, others have, during these 
very years, achieved the noblest victories. I need no self- 
examination to humble me under the consciousness of my 
deplorable perfidiousness. And all this in spite of con- 
victions so clear and strong, that a voice from heaven 
could have added nothing to their energy; all this with 
eternity just there, — with everlasting glories burning be- 
fore my vision. 

' Nor, again, is it unwise to explore the past, that we; 
may discover the cau&esof any sad changes either in our 



Former Days. 157 



personal concerns or in the times which have come over 
us. If in our business Ave once prospered, but now all 
goes wrong; if in the country peace, love formerly pre- 
vailed, but at present an earthquake convulses the foun- 
dations of society and fraternal hate and carnage afflict 
and rend the nation ; above all, if in other seasons the 
candle of the Lord shone upon us and we rejoiced in the 
blessedness of sweet close communion with Jesus, but 
now our souls are cold and dark; — in these and in similar 
cases it is our duty, our highest wisdom to examine the 
past that, detecting the causes of these calamities, we 
may apply the appropriate remedies. 

What Solomon condemns is a very different spirit. It 
is a discontented, querulous disposition which — instead 
of recognizing God in all times and events, and giving 
thanks in everything — is constantly complaining and 
croaking over the present, and pretending that it has 
greatly degenerated from the past. And observe how he 
treats this propensity. He declares that it is simple, 
downright, unsophisticated folly; — a sentence which is 
abundantly justified in every view you can take of it. 

To expose the true character of this temper it ought 
to be enough, that it is not peculiar to any period, but 
has been the chronic disease of all ages: In the writings 
of the oldest authors we find lamentations for some 
golden age of the past; but it is ever a legendary mil- 
lennium hidden in the depths of a fabulous antiquity. 
And the golden age of every man and woman is only 
the romantic dream of a warm imagination. To me 
this is, indeed, one of the most striking evidences of the 
vanity of human life, that we are ever thus preferring 
the ideal to the real, constantly persuading ourselves 
that the past w r as better than the present, although when 
that past was present, it was the cause of the same re- 
pinings, the same invidious contrast w T ith a portion of 
our lives still more remote. This spirit is universal. 
Let any one open his eyes and look about him, and he 
will confess that all his life he has been hearing only 
of degeneracy and decay, seeing only progress and im- 
provement. In this view society presents a curious phe- 
nomenon; nations and individuals eagerly pressing 



158 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

forward, impatient of the present, but as soon as that 
present has withdrawn and receded into the distance, re- 
calling it with tender regrets. That this dissatisfaction 
with the present has its important uses no one denies ; 
for without it there would be no advancement ; and, 
moreover, the real beauty and glory of earthly things 
are never in their own completeness, but in their pro- 
gression toward the higher, truer, nobler. But to mur- 
mur at this progression, to be ever giving the palm to 
former days, this is the height of folly and ingratitude ; 
and it ought to disabuse our minds of this fallacy when 
we find that, in all ages, men have been repeating the 
same complaint. 

A second proof of folly in this harping preference of 
the past is its falsehood. There may, there will come 
over the earth times of social, commercial, political, 
religious darkness and depression ; but as Galileo said of 
this planet, so I say of the economy of human affairs, it 
moves on for all that. You stand upon the sea shore, 
and because wave after wave rushes up a little way, 
then breaks and recedes, you think the tide is on the 
ebb ; but you are mistaken. Examine the steadily ad- 
vancing lines marked by those waves, and you will dis- 
cover that the sea is coming in, and with a power and 
majesty which mock to scorn the puny opposition of 
man. 

" Antiquity deserveth this reverence," says Lord Ba- 
con, " that men should make a stand thereupon, and 
discover what is the best way ; but when this discovery 
is well taken, then to make progression." This rever- 
ence and no more. It deserves no precedence such as 
the bemoaners of Solomon's day and those of our own 
would give it. These people are ever crying out about 
" the good old times ; but this ada^e really contains 
almost as many errors as words. In the first place it is 
a palpable falsehood to apply the term " old" to former 
days, as contrasted with these. The world is older to- 
day than it ever was before. If, then, homage be due to 
age, it must be rendered not to earlier, but to the present 
times. In the next place, we take up the whole thing 



Former Days. 159 



amiss, when we affirm that those days were good while 
these are bad. For if by " good " we mean to pay defer- 
ence to the superior wisdom of those times as we do to 
that of aged men, why it is self-evident that each succeed- 
ing generation ought to be made wiser by the experience 
of the generations preceding. Or, if by " good " we 
mean more virtuous, neither philosophy nor history will 
support an appeal ; they tell us that humanity has been 
always the same since the fall, — the same objects acting 
upon the same passions and producing the same fruits. 
In short, he alone can decide between the character of a 
former age and that of this, who has lived not only in 
each, but in each at the same time, so that the evils of 
both might be felt and compared as things actually 
present and pressing upon him; — a qualification plainly 
impossible. 

That we may feel the practical truth of these asser- 
tions, let us apply them, for a moment to some of these 
complaints as to secular affairs which we are every day 
hearing. All around us honest men are declaiming 
against the times, as an age of selfishness, cunning, 
craft, dishonesty ; but in trade and traffic when was it 
ever otherwise? "It is naught, it is naught, saith the 
buyer, but when he goeth his way then he boasteth." 
Solomon informs us that this was the practice under his 
reign ; and our most unscrupulous sharpers have made 
no improvement on it. All the tricks, shiftings, turn- 
ings, windings, twistings of mercantile chicanery are 
comprehended in that description. 

Those engaged in legitimate methods of sober com- 
merce lift up their hands against the wild, reckless spir- 
it of speculation now abroad. But in fact the most 
headlong gamblers amongst us are only tame copyists, 
feeble imitators of the fierce adventurers of other genera- 
tions ; of those, for example, who rioted in the excite- 
ment of the celebrated South Sea schemes ; during which 
a perfect mania seized the public mind in London, 
causing a dense incongruous mass of human beings 
to crowd the streets from morning. till night, — all im- 
pelled by the same delirious rage; churchmen and dis- 
senters to forget their theological disputes ; whigs and 
ii ?* 



160 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

tories to bury their political animosities; lawyers, phy- 
sicians, merchants to neglect their professional pursuits : 
even ministers of the Gospel to forsake their sacred 
calling, and ladies of the highest rank and refinement 
to discard all delicacy and dignity, as they whirled 
along in the swollen torrent which swept them down 
till they sank together in the vortex of one common, 
promiscuous bankruptcy. 

Old people shake their heads ominously as they des- 
cant upon the vanity and conceit of the young, who — 
they declare — are utterly wanting in reverence for years 
and experience, and affect to be wiser than their elders. 
But in all ages this has been the case; and when these 
old people were young, their fathers and mothers said 
the same thing of them. Indeed more than eighteen 
hundred years ago Pliny, speaking of young Eome, uses 
the very language now applied to young America. 
" Statim sapiunt. Statim sciunt omnia. Neminem 
verentur. Imitantur neminem. Atque ipsi siii sunt 
exempla"* " All at once they are perfect in wisdom. 
All at once they know everything. They reverence 
nobody. They imitate nobody. And each one is to 
himself the only example they condescend to follow." 

Even as to the terrible tragedy now shaking the land, 
what, alas, are the records of the earth, but a history of 
civil tumults, conflicts, blood and havoc? "From 
whence come wars and fightings among you? come 
they not hence even of your lusts that Avar in your 
members ?" These strifes, contentions, butcheries, are 
to be traced to what they proceed from in humanity 
itself. To examine the circumstances which may hap- 
pen to involve nations in hostility — to confine our 
thoughts to these, and not to recognize, as the great 
cause of such a hideous calamity, the selfishness and 
depravity of our nature, is to act like a man who, when 
a plague is raging, overlooks the pestilence, and enquires 
into the cause of each particular case of mortality. 

Look where we will over this wide world, we find the 
earth covered with monuments, columns, obelisks, towers 



*Plin. Jun., Liber 8, Epist. 23. 



Former Days. 161 



all raised to perpetuate the fame of battles and cam- 
paigns; to transmit the tale of cities sacked and burned, 
of fields drenched in gore and strewn with the forms, 
of men lacerated, mutilated, massacred by each other. 
Nor will the dismal phenomenon ever cease, until the re- 
ligion of Jesus shall everywhere triumph; for the Gos- 
pel alone can penetrate "to the source of the evil, and 
quell the depraved passions of the heart. Meanwhile, 
that Gospel has so mitigated the horrors of this scourge, 
as to make the ruthless, savage cruelties of ancient war- 
fare almost incredible to us ; and as the successive 
eruptions of the volcano ultimately fertilize the soil, so 
the promises of God and the history of our earth console 
us with the assurance that even the convulsions which 
we deplore will prove to be blessings, will accomplish 
the great purposes of unerring w T isdom, and unchanging 
love as to the future destinies of this nation and of the 
human race. 

But I need not dwell longer upon this part of our 
subject. The text itself furnishes the most striking 
illustration of the inveterate folly I am seeking to ex- 
pose ; for it discloses the fact that under Solomon's reign 
there was the same unreflecting, short-sighted repining 
after the past. During the preceding years the calendar 
had been dark enough. The land bled at every pore 
under the tyranny of Saul, and the rebellions of Absa- 
lom and Sheba. On all sides w T ere civil, commercial, 
political trouble and disorder. While Solomon was upon 
the throne Judah w 7 as the pride of the "world, Jerusalem 
was the metropolis of the whole earth, the nation was 
blessed with the palmiest prosperity, the government w r as 
administered with consummate wisdom. Yet, " this 
lolly was in Israel;" people were ever recalling the for- 
mer days and saying, " What is the cause that they w T ere 
happier than these ?" 

If from secular we pass to religious things, we en- 
counter as to these the same prejudice. There lurks in 
our minds I know not what lodged, rooted idea, that the 
former days were happier, more auspicious than the 
present. But here, again, we do not enquire wisely. 



162 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

The depravity of our nature, the universal diffusion of 
moral evil wherever human beings are found, the origin 
of this dismal phenomenon, and how it can be reconciled 
with the wisdom, holiness, power, love of God, — these 
are unspeakably profound and awful mysteries. A de- 
vout mind can comfort itself only with the certainty 
that this fearful fact, so utterly inscrutable to us, is yet 
a part of the moral machinery which is working out the 
grand designs and eternal counsels of Jehovah, But 
ever since the fall the same sinful nature has betrayed 
itself ominously in the actions of men. Carry your re- 
searches back to any age, explore the archives of every 
nation, the depravity of the race is impressed on the en- 
tire record in appalling distinctness; and in nothing 
does it betray its malignity so portentiously as in the 
perversion and corruption of the very scheme which God 
has revealed for our redemption. 

When you give the precedence to some former age, 
and claim for it superiority as to the influence and power 
of the Gospel, I ought to request you to consider how 
such an assertion sounds from the lips of a Christian. 
You believe that Christ Jesus came into the world ; and 
that, with him, there entered into humanity a new ele- 
ment to regenerate and elevate it. Are you willing to 
concede that this amazing enterprise has proved a fail- 
ure ? that the wisdom and power of God have been ex- 
hausted and have found sin too strong for them ? 

But, passing this, when, where, did other days have 
this pre-eminence ? Sometimes these sighs over tho 
present and for the past refer to the supposed purity of 
the church in apostolic times. On chasing this mirage 
back, however, to those days, what do we find but the 
same selfishness and corruption which are the burden of 
our complaints now. Indeed, in what part of the land 
can you shew me a body of professors of whom it can 
be said, that "All mind their own, not the things of 
Jesus Christ?" Where is the church which converts 
the Lord's supper into a bacchanalian feast, as they did 
at Corinth; or which retains in its fellowship a man 
known to be- living in incest? - ~ 



Former Days. 163 



But the peace and harmony of the primitive churches ; 
what a painful contrast between the unhappy period on 
which we have fallen, and those halcyon days, when 
brethren dwelt together in unity, and when the truth 
won its way with such little opposition. This is what 
you say ; nor do I deny that there were short intervals of 
rest enjoyed by the first churches. They were, however, 
only respites, breathing spells. Seasons of protracted 
tranquillity were always periods of declension and aposta- 
sy. As to that enmity which the truth meets in 
the carnal mind, the world has ever been what it now 
is. If there has been a suspension of hostility it has 
ever been because the church was recreant to its sacred 
trust. Of the seven churches of Asia the only two not 
engaged in stern conflicts with persecution were those of 
Sardis and Laodicea; and they were the very churches 
most hopelessly sunk in error and corruption. — 
" Think not," said the Redeemer, that I am come to 
send peace ; 1 am come not to send peace, but a sword." 
In every period only a comparatively small number have 
been truly loyal to God ; and they have been hated, re- 
viled, persecuted. In this view the fault-finding spirit in 
the text is plainly preposterous. And, then, as to inter- 
nal dissensions, a very considerable portion of ecclesiasti- 
cal history is a record of these. It is delightful to read 
the narrative of Pentecost, of the love and harmony which 
then pervaded the entire church. But this was tTie in- 
auguration of the dispensation of the Holy Spirit in the 
plenitude of his gifts and graces. This manifestation, 
during which religion was the sole occupation of the 
converts, whether Jewish pilgrims, or residents in Jeru- 
salem, continued only a few weeks. And very soon 
after this season had passed, we find everywhere the 
same dissensions which now agitate and disturb the 
churches. 

But of all these religious illusions, the most common 
and plausible is that which ascribes to an earlier epoch 
spiritual advantages far superior to those we enjoy; 
whereas, the reverse is really the truth. No doubt mira- 
cles were a divine attestation of the Saviour's heavenly- 
mission. -We know, however, that the visible exhibition, 



164 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

of supernatural energies was more than counterbalanced 
by the rooted prejudices of the Jews as to their Messiah. 
Besides, the only effect of seeing miracles would be a 
conviction that they were wrought ; but as to this we have 
testimony quite as conclusive as any ocular proof. For 
it would be absurd to pretend that we cannot be as sure 
of a fact upon the deposition of eye witnesses, as upon 
the evidence of our senses. In these respects, then, we 
are on a footing with the first disciples ; but in others, 
we have vast advantages. The credentials upon which 
our faith rests are cumulative. Century after century 
the Gospel has been tried and sifted ; and the seal of 
truth has been set upon it. With increasing might and 
glory it has asserted, and is still asserting its majesty as 
the wisdom and power of God unto salvation. 

I add only one other remark as to this carping, bewail- 
ing spirit, which is, that it can do no sort of good to any 
man or woman, but is a morbid, vicious disposition, caus- 
ing the very evils it affects to deplore. 

Suppose it to be true, that the former times were better 
than these, what efficacy is there in our complaints to 
produce any changes? Piety consists not in moping 
over the past, nor in repining that we are not in different 
circumstances, but in fidelity to our lot, in " forgetting 
the things that are behind and pressing toward the mark 
of ourhigh calling." The great thing for each of us is 
our duty ; and amidst all our blindness and weakness, it 
is the plainest thing, if we are willing to know it. Duty 
—deeds done for God — this only is real and permanent. 
The future soon becomes present, the present soon be- 
comes past and is gone forever ; but work performed for 
Jesus, this cannot pass away. "Work while it is called 
To-day." Do not brood over yesterday. Work to-day ; 
and amidst your troubles, you "will find work to be like 
the strokes of the swimmer, which not only prevent the 
ocean from drowning him, but cause that very ocean to 
bear him up and on his way. 

]STor is this querulousness only unavailing; it is, as I 
have said, a sickly, selfish, vicious propensity against 
which we ought to guard ourselves. It is the whining of 
old people, who cannot bear to think that. the world is, 



Former Days. 165 



growing wiser and better without them. It is the cynical 
grumbling of bilious, dyspeptic people, who cannot endure 
that others should be happy without them, or with them. 
It aggravates the evils of every age and condition. The 
habitual recognition of a personal Deity ordering all 
things, and the instinctive acquiescence in his will — this 
is piety ; this keeps the soul in perfect peace. But fret- 
ting and murmuring insult God, and render enjoyment 
impossible in any circumstances. This temper mars, if 
it does not wholly destroy our usefulness, as to which 
what makes one man superior to another is simply a pres- 
ent, earnest will. To-day is here, to-morrow is near at 
hand, — each bringing new and noble opportunities. How 
pitiful and sinful if, instead of improving them, we waste 
our lives in peevishly uttering invectives against the pres- 
ent and regrets for the past. 

In a word, all this pensive sentimentalism — these wails 
and lamentations about the times — is simply so much 
folly and absurdity; for the fault is in us, not in the 
times. Strictly speaking, the times have inherent in them 
no quality whatever. They are what we make them.— 
And as in an assembly, he creates most noise who is con- 
tinually crying, Silence ! so those who are loudest about the 
times are often the very people who have done most to make 
the times what they are. The times are themselves perfect- 
ly harmless. The sun rises and sets now as it always did. 
Years roll on in one generation as in another. In one 
sense the times are in fact always good ; since they always 
furnish occasions to glorify God, to break and trample 
under foot every chain of selfishness, to shed blessings on 
mankind, and to build ourselves up in moral, self-denying, 
sacred energy of soul. Let us cease, then, to ring changes 
and charges about the times, when the evils of which we 
complain are really in ourselves. " Say not thou. What is 
the cause that the former days were better than these ? 
for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this." 

II. You see, now, what is the temper which Solomon 
reproves, and why he rebukes it so sharply. I have in- 
sisted upon this article so long that I must be brief in 
dealing with the other text,, which exhorts us to recall 



166 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

the past, but to recall it in the spirit of wise, Christian 
reflection. To stir up their minds by way of remembrance, 
to replenish their faith, hope, love, courage, Moses again 
and again admonishes Israel to " ask of the former times " 
— frequently to review the way in which the Lord their 
God had led them. And this is the very design of the 
Holy Spirit in the passage now before us, — " Call to re- 
membrance the former days." 

" The former days," — that infinitely interesting and 
important time, when we came out from the world and 
gave ourselves to Jesus by a good profession before many 
witnesses. In our text the apostle refers directly to this 
period. 

The Hebrews whom he addresses were in danger of 
apostasy — at least, of forgetting their high and glorious 
calling, of becoming faithless to their solemn vows. The 
apostle warns them of the consequences if they should 
fall away ; and, to reanimate them and arm them against 
every temptation, he reminds them of the noble spirit 
with which they had embraced the truth, and of their 
heroic sacrifices and sufferings for it, " knowing that in 
heaven they had a better and an enduring substance." 

And what a touching, powerful argument is the appeal 
to such a record. When God would bring Jacob to cast 
away his idols and return to his first piety, he commands 
him to "arise and go up to Bethel." And you recollect 
the effect upon the patriarch, as he revisited a scene which 
reminded him of his sore trouble, of the mercy which in- 
terposed for his deliverance, and of his solemn engage- 
ments. " Then Jacob said unto his household and to all 
that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are 
among you, and be clean and change your garments, and 
let us arise and go up to Bethel, and 1 will make there 
an altar unto God who answered me in the day of my 
distress, and was with me in the way which I went." 

My brethren, such a summons comes to us this day. — 
Let us obey it. Let us arise and go up to Bethel. Our 
fears, convictions, prayers, distresses, the hope .which 
sprang up in our hearts when Christ was revealed in us^ 
the gratitude which glowed in our souls, the vows x>f love 



Former Days. 16? 



and consecration we then made ; — let us recall these, and 
let the remembrance of them humble us in the dust for 
our perfidiousness, and rekindle a devotion whose ardors 
shall make some reparation for such forgetfulness and 
delinquency. "I have somewhat against thee, because 
thou hast left thy first love." 0, of what avail is it if the 
whole world applaud us, while Jesus says "/ have some- 
what against thee ;" and when this somewhat is, that our 
affection for him has grown cold. 

" The former days ;" — the days of our affliction. The 
apostle refers to these, and God means us to have them 
in remembrance. The hours of disease and languishing, 
when our souls drew nigh to the grave, when, like Hez- 
ekiah, we turned our pale face to the wall, and cried unto 
the Lord, and he pitied and healed us; or when adversity 
fell upon us like a storm, wrecking our fortunes and 
sweeping away our plans and purposes; or when the sun 
went down on our homes and our hearts, when bereave- 
ment and anguish converted our dwellings into houses of 
mourning, in which, amid shivered joys and hopes, we 
shut ourselves up to weep and mourn in bitterness ; — 
these afflictions came not out of the ground, they were 
the chastisements of that God who loves us, and they had 
their designs. We ought to review them that we may be 
corrected, may be weaned from the world, may repose 
unlimited confidence in the Redeemer whose grace then 
sustained and comforted us, may realize the uncertainty 
of all earthly happiness, and may have our treasure in 
heaven, our hearts habitually elevated to things unseen 
and eternal. 

"The former days;" — times of trial, conflict, discour- 
agement, temptation. Did we oftener call these to re- 
membrance, with how much more delight would we make 
the covert of God's faithfulness our refuge, exclaiming, 
with the Psalmist, " Because thou hast been my help, 
therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice." 

It is of the last importance for us to recollect that grace 
is promised only as our day, that strength is accurately 
proportioned to our need. When under proper control, 
the love of accumulation is right enough as to worldly 
things; but as to spiritual supplies it is forbidden. We 



*68 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

are to live upon Jesus hour by hour; and if we would let 
our experiences make us wise, they would teach us that 
we trust in One who never did, never will, never can dis- 
appoint us ; who — as the apostle beautifully says, " hath 
delivered," "doth deliver," and "will yet deliver;" who 
has supported us when fainting, has lifted us up when 
fallen, has restored our souls when they have wandered 
from his paths, has rescued us from the power of tempta- 
tion, in a word, who has been with us in every furnace, 
and has given us songs in the longest and darkest night. 

But, as I remarked, a glance at this part of our subject 
is all the time allows. And, moreover, yon can easily 
supply what I am compelled to omit. "God requireth 
that which is past," aud we should summon before us 
that past and its lessons. 

Our past means, opportunities, advantages, — how mul- 
tiplied these; but how have they been improved? What 
a sad mortifying disproportion between these and the ad- 
vances we have made in holiness and usefulness. What 
dwarfs we still are. Our past sins — God will not allow 
us to forget these; if we do, he will employ methods to 
remind us of them. " Hast thou come to bring my sins 
to remembrance and to slay my child ?" Our sins should 
be always before us, that we may lie low in self-abasement, 
may have charity for others, may be ever watchful and 
* prayerful, may admire the patience which hath borne 
with us so long, may adore the efficacy of that blood 
which could reach and save us in such an abyss. Lastly, 
our past mercies. Few can look back, without acknow- 
ledging signal and striking interpositions in their behalf. 
And what jear, what day of the lives of all of us but has 
been crowned with God's goodness? These mercies ap- 
peal to every generous sentiment in our nature. Subdued, 
constrained by them, each of us ought to be forever ex- 
claiming, " Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is 
within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, my 
soul, and forget not all his benefits." " Thou art my God, 
and I will praise thee. Thou art my God, I will exalt 
thee. give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for 
his- mercy endureth forever*" 



Former Days. 169 



In conclusion, let us unite the two passages to which 
our meditations have been addressed this morning, and 
derive from them the instructions they impart. Let us 
never recall the past to indulge in peevish, querulous 
comparisons with the present; but let us so reflect upon 
it, that we may be wiser, holier, happier for the time to 
come. As to the future, we know not how it will go 
with us; but we know how it hath gone with us; and 
we know it hath gone well or ill with us, just as we 
have been faithful or faithless to Jesus. Let us profit by 
this lesson. 

It is impossible for some of you to call to remembrance 
the former days, without confessing the unspeakable 
danger of deferring the decision of those great questions 
which conscience and God's Spirit press upon the soul. 
How many convictions have been stifled by procrastina- 
tion, how many promises and resolutions defeated. If 
you persist in this course what a retrospect will be yours 
from a dying bed. 

If in calling to remembrance the former times, any of 
us feel that we have declined in our spiritual life, in our 
communion with God, the darkness now upon us must 
contrast sadly with the light of those days. Well may 
we say, "Oh, that we were as in months past, as in the 
days when God preserved us; when his candle shined 
upon our heads and when by his light we walked through 
darkness." Then we rejoiced in the consciousness of his 
favor and his loving kindness was better than life. — 
Then Jesus was preciousness itself. Then our souls were 
refreshed by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Then the 
peace of God which passeth all understanding reigned in 
our minds; and prayer, the sanctuary, the very crosses 
we bore for Christ were unspeakably sweet to our hearts. 
It is not so with us now; and, oh, how much better the 
memory of these joys, than all which the whole universe^ 
can give us. 

To those who still cleave to Jesus the past is full of 
voices, and every voice speaks encouragement and con- 
solation. When Manoah feared and said he should perish, 
his wife replied, "If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he 
would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offer- 



170 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

ing at our hands, neither would he have showed us all 
these things." Every Christian may adopt this language. 
Our past mercies are pledges of God's good pleasure to 
help us quite through. If he designed to destroy us, h^ 
would not have awakened us, and called us by his grace, 
and shed abroad his love in our souls, and breathed into 
our hearts the spirit of adoption, and inspired this faith 
in his word, and kindled this zeal for his truth, his cause, 
his glory. Perish the impiety, which would charge him 
with the folly of the builder, of whom it was scoffingly 
said, "This man began to build and was not able to 
finish." God means to complete what he has begun. — 
"If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by 
the death of his Son, how much more, being reconciled 
we shall be saved by his life." Let us, then, call to 
remembrance our former experiences and learn to rejoice 
in the assurance, that he who hath begun a good work 
in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. 

And while our thoughts thus reach back and gather 
confidence, courage, strength from the past, let them 
perform a still higher, nobler office ; let them soar up 
into that grand future which can be at no great distance, 
and contemplate the things which faith reveals; — things 
which are no illusions like those which mock us here, 
but unmingled joys, unfading glories. Let us no longer 
stay in the dust. Let us rise above the stars and be 
habitually fixing our eyes upon that heaven, where the 
review of the past shall fill our minds with wonder and 
admiration; where the present shall be perfect purity 
and peace; where the future shall spread out before us 
an ever expanding immortality of blessedness; where, 
through the unwasting ages of eternity, past, present 
and future shall transport our souls with anthems of love 
and adoration which shall know no intermission, and shall 
forever glow with increasing ecstasy and rapture. 



Disjiositions under National Judgments. 171 



Sermon Ktntti. 



Wrong and Right DISPOSITIONS 
under NATIONAL JUDGMENTS.* 

" I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright ; no man repented 
him of his wickedness, saying-, What have I done ? every one turned to 
his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle."— Jeremiah viii : 6. 

MY FRIENDS, I utter no paradox, I speak only the 
sentiments of my calm conviction, when I tell you 
that your sins alarm me less than your days of humilia- 
tion and prayer. Twice, within a short period, solemn 
fasts for national guilt have been appointed, and in this 
temple, before the great and dreadful God, you have con- 
fessed your crimes and appealed to heaven for the sincer- 
ity of your* repentance. How have these vows been per- 
formed ? The most terrible of all calamities is now upon 
us. When Jehovah gave David his choice between those 
three sore judgments, pestilence, famine and the sword, 
the king said, " Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, 
for very great are his mercies, but let me not fall into the 
hand of man," — thus marking war as the direst of all 
chastisements. This scourge, in its most cruel form, is 
at this moment drenching the land in fraternal blood ; 
and again we are here before the great and dreadful 
God, to humble ourselves and implore his clemency; but 
what do his all-searching eyes see in us ? Does he not 

* Preached/Thursday, April 30, 1863, a Day of National Fasting, 
Humiliation and Prayer; and inscribed, " To Hiram Woods, as 
a tribute of affection and of grateful acknowledgement of his 
many acts of kindness to the author and his family." 



172 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

turn away from exterior services which mock him, and 
say, "Is it such a fast that I have chosen? Wilt thou 
call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?" 
You recollect the dissimulation charged upon Israel, 
"When he slew them, then they sought him, and they 
returned and enquired early after God, and they remem- 
bered that God was their reck and the high God their 
redeemer; nevertheless they did flatter him with their 
mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues." Are 
we not about to incur this guilt ? and is there not too 
much reason for my being more alarmed about your fast 
days than about your sins ? 

It is in the humble hope of preventing this new insult, 
and averting the just displeasure it would kindle, that I 
have selected our text. The words are very significant ; 
they admonish us that, while God is afflicting a nation, 
he does not retire from the field, nor is he an unconcerned 
spectator, but he waits and observes whether the strokes 
he inflicts accomplish the purposes he designed, whether 
in our hearts and lives fruits are brought forth meet for 
repentance. 

I. "I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright, 
no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What 
have I done? every one turned to his course a£ the horse 
rusheth into the battle." This is thelanguageof Jehovah, 
and the first truth it suggests is, that under divine 
judgments there are tempers which are not right, which 
are sinful, and as to which we ought this day seriously 
to examine ourselves. 

One of these dispositions, and perhaps the most in- 
sulting to the Governor of the world, is indifference to 
the chastisements which our sins bring upon us. " Yet 
they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither 
the king nor any of his servants." " Lord, when thy 
hand is lifted up, they will not see." The policy of men 
is to silence the voice of conscience, to forget their sins, 
and thus to turn every one to his course, as the horse 
rusheth into the battle. But this will never do. Sin is 
a hideous rebellion against God's moral empire, and in 
mercy he employs means to bring men to think of their 



Dis2Wsitions under National Judgments. 173 

ways before it is too late. To remind us ot our iniqui- 
ties is one great design of affliction. "In the day of 
adversity consider ;" we are then called to " hear the rod 
and who hath appointed it;" nor indeed is it possible for 
any one to be wholly inattentive to public calamities. 
Nevertheless in all ages, even when the messengers of 
vengeance have opened and are executing their commis- 
sion, the servants of the Most High have had to 
utter this complaint, " Lord thou hast stricken them, 
but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, 
but they have refused to receive correction ; they have 
made their faces harder than a rock ; they have refused 
to return." This is the temper which Jesus rebuked in 
" some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate 
had mingled with their sacrifices." Here was an act of 
sudden vengeance, by which certain persons who had 
visited Jerusalem to worship were themselves hewed 
down, and left weltering in their blood mingled with 
that of the beasts they had just slain as victims. About 
the same time, eighteen men had been crushed to death 
by the fall of the tower of Siloam. These tragical 
events produced, of course, some excitement. For a 
while men met in groups and discussed them ; some ex- 
pressing one opinion, and some another ; but they did 
not lay them to heart ; there was none of that recollec- 
tion and reflection which such visitations ought to have 
awakened. 

And this deplorable insensibility is at present seen ev- 
erywhere in this city, and all over this land. So solemn 
and terrible are the times now passing over us, that it 
seems to me we ought instinctively to imitate Hezekiah, 
who "rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth, 
and went into the house of the Lord," and sent to the 
prophet saying, "This is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, 
wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left." 
My friends, reflect for a moment upon the respect, confi- 
dence, affection which once cemented the closest friend- 
ships between those who, in our national councils, repre- 
sented different portions of this commonwealth. Old 
companions in arms, men who had stood side by side in 
the imminent deadly breach and poured out their blood 



174 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

like water, or who, during the darkest hours of their 
country's peril, had watched and prayed and deliberated 
with souls oppressed by public cares, — their common 
toils, dangers, sufferings, victories linked them together 
in a love like that of brothers. Engraved upon their 
hearts they carried each other's faces; they delighted to 
call their sons by each other's names, — by names so dear 
to them, and which would be hallowed, they believed, 
by succeeding generations. Look at that picture, and 
now look at this. With the sympathies which thus 
blended the souls of those patriots, contrast the tempers 
which for thirty years have been alienating and exasper- 
ating their descendants, and gradually undermining the 
sentiment of nationality by which we were kept together ; 
the envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness; the 
severing of fraternal ties; the breaking up of social 
affinities ; the reckless violation of sacred obligations ; 
reverence, attachment, courtesy turned into contempt, 
hatred, contumely, insult; until now, things contrived 
by the wisdom and consecrated by the memory of our 
fathers, — things which to them were household words of 
joy and pride and devout gratitude, — things for which 
our mothers taught us to lisp our infant praises to hea- 
ven, have come to be a by-word and a loathing with 
millions whose ancestors bled to secure them, and to 
whom they were bequeathed as the noblest legacy. 

These are the seeds which have been unsparingly 
sown ; and we are now reaping, and the child unborn 
will reap the harvest. " A brother offended is harder to 
be won than a strong city, and their contentions are like 
the bars of a castle." Their intimate relation will make 
brothers expect tenderness and forbearance from each 
other, will cause them to feel more keenly any unkind- 
ness, and if the unnatural wrong be persisted in, will 
poison their minds with an enmity embittered by the 
very memory of their former love. Of this proverb of 
Solomon we have a melancholy illustration in the perni- 
cious feuds now cursing this city and State, where there 
are as yet no open hostilities. Everywhere, in the 
haunts of business, in society, in the churches, in fami- 
lies, a secret and most unnatural rancor insinuates its 



Dispositions tinder National Judgments. 175 

bane. Brother is estranged from brother, and sister from 
sister. Parents are against their children, and children 
against their parents. Husbands are against wives, and 
wives against husbands. In short, one deep sentiment 
of revenge is threatening to supersede all gentle, nay all 
Christian feeling, and to absorb the hearts of men, of 
women, even of Tittle children. 

Such is our wretched condition even here. And 
meanwhile war is raging in some of the loveliest portions 
of this lovely earth given us by God as our home. — 
Amidst many of the most beautiful scenes of nature are 
heard shouts and yells which tell us that men, whose 
duty it is to love, are engaged in destroying one another. 
In any war it is not the physical sufferings which appal me, 
— the mutilation and slaughter of thousands in an hour. 
This might have been the work of the simoom or the 
earthquake. The awful thing is that brothers inflict 
such wretchedness on brothers. And if this thought is 
terrible in any war, what are the horrors of the present 
crisis, when millions connected by such ties are rushing 
upon each other for mutual carnage ? 

My brethren, what tears can be sufficient for such a 
catastrophe ? Zion mourns as she sees her Sabbaths 
desecrated, and hears her temples resounding, not with 
the w r onted songs of praise and thanksgiving, but with 
the groans of the wounded and dying. The poor stricken 
land, amazed at the unnatural conflict, torn with internal 
anguish, cries sorrowfully to God, like Eebecca in her 
agony, saying, "why am I thus?" only, like that afflicted 
mother, to receive this answer, Thou carriest in thy 
bosom tico nations burning with inextinguishable hate, 
grappling in a war cruel, unrelenting as the grave. And 
surely in our inmost souls ought to be awakened the 
profoundest concern and commiseration. We oujrht 
not only to speak of this fearful calamity when we sit in 
our houses, and when we walk by the way, but by medi- 
tation, by laying it to heart, we ought to realize the 
judgment upon us, and with trembling solicitude to 
enquire what such a judgment portends. Instead of this, 
the minister of God has still to renew the lamentations 
of the prophets, and to mourn over an insensibility 
ii 8 



176 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

which seems resolved to brave it out against Jehovah and 
to present an iron front to all his thunders. 

You will not, of course, suppose me to desire anything 
like that pusillanimity which causes many to shake with 
terror at the approach of danger. Let Christians at least 
be always superior to this unworthy timidity. Under 
providential dispensations which overwhelm the world 
with consternation, they ought to be filled with perfect 
peace, to exhibit that calmness and serenity which true 
faith inspires. " Neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 
Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and let him be your 
fear, and let him be your dread, and he shall be for a 
sanctuary." "God is our refuge anl strength, a very 
present help in trouble ; therefore will not we fear, though 
the earth be removed, and though the mountains be 
carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters 
thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains 
shake with the swelling thereof. The Lord of hosts is 
with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge." The indif- 
ference which I am condemning is not only not the 
tranquillity of the Christian, but it is a combination of 
some of the most presumptuous vices found in man's 
depraved nature ; — of unbelief, contempt, settled hard- 
ness of heart. 

It is the apathy of practical atheism, — of the man 
who, instead of asking what the supreme moral Euler is 
intending, sees only human passions, hears only " the 
noise of their waves, the tumult of the people," and 
looks on as if chance and accident were rioting in these 
disorders. 

It is the insensibility of a detestable avarice, which 
seeks only to turn to good account the afflictions of the 
nation; and would prolong these miseries, because they 
furnish opportunities for plundering the public treasury 
under a profession of patriotism, or at least for extorting 
exorbitant profits from those who are already groaning 
under burdens they cannot long bear. Even in the 
present awful emergency, our necessities have but 
whetted this delirious appetite, and multitudes, from 
the meanest contractors to those high in office, are in- 
tent only upon gorging their voracious cupidity. 



Dispositions under National Judgments. 177 

It is the obduracy of a defiant, heaven-outraging sen- 
suality. God is summoning us, the Chief Magistrate of 
the nation has invited us to fast, to prostrate ourselves 
in humiliation and supplication. Like Nineveh, the 
entire people, from the President and his Cabinet to the 
humblest beggar, ought to lie low in sackcloth and ashes. 
In addition to the curse now poured out upon us, there 
are portentous omens in the horizon. " In the morning 
if the sky be lowering, you say there will be a storm." 
In the gloomy horoscope hanging over these early years 
of our national history, w T e ought to discern the signs'of 
wrath still to come; and with tears w r e ought to seek to 
avert the fury of the tempest. In place of this, however, 
there are on all sides the sounds of revelry and mirth. 
There never w T as a season of more unbounded sensual 
gratification in the ball room, the theatre, the haunts of 
pleasure and debauchery. On this solemn fast-day God 
hears in the city and country not the voice of weeping, 
but of merriment and festivity. To a devout mind, nay 
to a mind not infatuated, how deplorable such a specta- 
cle. my countrymen, ought these things to be? 
Does he regard God, or love his country, w T ho can thus 
make light of these calamities ? Is this a time for feast- 
ing and dancing, for the viol, and tabret, and harp, and 
wine, and strong drink, when the judgments of God are 
abroad, when the avenging heavens above and the gore- 
sodden earth beneath are calling us to mourning and 
lamentation and woe ? 

They speak not aright, I remark, in the next place, 
they betray hearts most depraved, tempers utterly offen- 
sive to God, who regard the chastisement now upon us 
with reference only to themselves, only as it may affect 
their private interests. 

Nothing is easier, as nothing can be more unbecoming 
our ministry, than invective and defamation, but there 
is not one of you who will think me uncharitable when 
I say, that an overweening self-love has long been a 
most prominent feature in our character as a nation. 
Intoxicated with success and self-flattery, we have for- 
gotten Him who, raising us from our low estate, has 
crow T ned us with unparalleled prosperity. Our hearts 



178 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

have been lifted up, and we have said, " Our wisdom and 
the might of our hands have gotten us this power." 
We have nourished the spirit of that arrogant monarch 
whom God so signally humbled in the very hour when 
he exclaimed, " Is not this great Babylon which I have 
built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my 
power, and for the honor of my majesty ?" This vanity 
has at the same time so perverted our judgment, that 
we have mistaken the elements of true social and politi- 
cal growth. To be gigantic nation is one thing, to be a 
great nation is a very different thing; but this distinc- 
tion our self-complacency has not permitted us to see. 
And, because the area of our territory has been enlarged, 
because commerce, wealth, population, public resources 
have outstripped the most visionary anticipations of 
those who founded the Republic, we have been flushed 
with a supercilious opinion of our extraordinary pro- 
gress ; while in virtue, patriotism, integrity, magnanimity, 
reverence for truth and law, for God and humanity, we 
have been degenerating from those heroic men with a 
rapidity as alarming as our physical expansion has been 
wonderful. 

This conceit, which gives us such an exaggerated idea 
of our own country, is sometimes supposed to be patriot- 
ism, — so our orators and newspapers style it. In fact, 
however, it is nothing but self- admiration ; and when 
judgments scourge the nation, it shews itself in its real 
character, by taking the form of excessive individual 
selfishness, — that abominable spirit which causes a man 
to think always only of himself, and to receive scarcely 
any impression from public calamities, except as they 
affect his own enjoyments. 

That fields once waving in golden harvests are crim- 
soned with slaughter; that famine and pestilence walk 
in darkness, and destruction wasteth at noonday ; that 
cities are sacked and given to the flames, amidst the 
cries of mothers clasping their infants to their breasts, 
and the shrieks of virgins and wives flying from a i 
worse than death ; that the angel of vengeance moves on 
strong and black pinions over the land, causing homes 
lately gladdened by love and happiness to re-echo the 



Dispositions under National Judgments. 179 

wails of widows and orphans; that these convulsions 
threaten to upheave the very foundation of liberty, to 
extinguish the brightest hopes which ever dawned upon 
the world ; and that the cause of Jesus must suffer in 
such terrible tragedies; — all this excites scarcely a 
thought in the bosom of a man in whom vanity and sel- 
fishness are the ruling passions. He is his own centre 
and circumference. His religion is only an apotheosis 
of himself. Attentive only to himself, he sees in the 
disasters which burst upon the State only so much peril 
to his own prosperity and pleasure. If these be un- 
touched, he knows no sympathy for the wretchedness of 
others ; nay, he lives upon the miseries of others ; he 
secretly rejoices, as he contemplates his own good for- 
tune, and compares it w r ith the desolations which have 
swept over so many thousands. 

But of all the dispositions which offend the Sovereign 
Governor of the w T orld when he is correcting a people 
for sin, the most common is that which overlooks " the 
operation of his hands," and sees only the operation of 
secondary agencies. 

This is a thought which I am exceedingly anxious to 
impress upon you ; because, as to this impiety, there is 
practically so little difference between infidels and most 
people professing to be religious ; and because the habit- 
ual acknowledgment of a personal God, interfering di- 
rectly in all the concerns of earth, is precisely that ele- 
ment which makes one man more a Christian than 
another. 

If you consult the Bible, you will find that the pas- 
sions most odious to the Divine government are pride, 
ambition, sensuality, and vindictiveness. If you exam- 
ine history, you will at once discover that these are also 
the very vices which have proved most fatal to the order 
and stability of human governments. And, now, a 
moment's reflection will convince you that the only per- 
manent restraint upon these destructive propensities, is 
a habitual consciousness of being, at all times, and in 
all places, exposed to the inspection of that Omniscience 
which the Scriptures reveal. Before this glorious God, 
(especially feeling, as we all do, how he has loaded us 



180 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

with mercies, and how we have requited them all with 
the basest ingratitude) — pride and ambition are abased, 
we "abhor ourselves in dust and ashes," humility be- 
comes the pervading principle of the soul. An abiding 
sense of accountability to the Eternal Judge for our 
most secret feelings and desires, represses licentious 
gratifications in their sources, where alone they can be 
checked with certainty. And it is only by the overaw- 
ing recognition of an Almighty Ruler, and the expecta- 
tion of a future reckoning, that the vindictive spirit of 
man can be rebuked, and true meekness — the meekness 
of principle — control his temper. Let this faith in a 
Divine Avenger be extinguished, let this fear and rever- 
ence be banished, and it is a simple matter of fact that 
malignity, revenge, murder would soon mock to scorn 
the impotence of human philosophy or legislation, and 
nations called Christian, this nation, would re-enact all 
those horrors of the French Revolution, from the bare 
recital of which the imagination recoils. During that 
terrible but most instructive period, the Deity was de- 
posed. Reason was throned as the presiding goddess of 
the world ; and you know what followed. By expung- 
ing the idea of God, they expunged all reverence for the 
rights, the dignity, the immortality of man. Multitudes 
were massacred as so many brutes. The entire land be- 
came a theatre on which revenge and ferocity blazed 
forth without any disguise. And the most refined, in- 
tellectual people in Europe were converted, women as 
well as men, into demons, revelling io hellish orgies, 
their hands reeking with blood, and their mouths drip- 
ping with blasphemy. 

Nor does this belief in the Supreme Being only repress 
the depravities of our nature, it inbreeds and nourishes 
the purest, noblest virtues. Move where he may over the 
whole earth, the man of the world never meets God. His 
thoughts wander through the universe, explore the 
heights, vex the depths, expatiate among the stars, but 
" God is not in all his thoughts." Go where he will, ihe 
Christian's mint! is fixed on the Eternal Wisdom, Power 
and Love. All from God, all with God, all in God. — 
Nothing by chance. Nothing by human passions, with- 



Dispositions under National Judgments. 181 

out his direct appointment. War, pestilence, famine, 
vine and fig tree blooming or blasted, — all are accomplish- 
ing his inscrutable but adorable purposes. The Chris- 
tian has ever before his contemplation a Glorious Presence 
to sustain, purify, elevate his soul. We cannot see how 
these perplexed and complicated processes can be tend- 
ing to such results, how they are working together for 
the divine glory and the triumph of truth and holiness 
on the earth ; but unerring Wisdom is controlling and 
adjusting all. That is enough. Faith, patience, hope, 
gratitude, strength, courage, integrity, joy — all the vir- 
tues which adorn the Christian and the patriot, which 
bless the church and the nation, are built up and estab- 
lished by this consciousness. 

The disposition of him who stops at second causes is 
the reverse of this. It abolishes the divine providence, 
and makes nature another department of atheism. Do 
not misunderstand me. No one denies the propriety of 
discussing the conduct of those who are the immediate 
instruments of good or evil to a land. As 1o measures 
adopted by the government under which we live, it is 
right and fit that every citizen should respectfully exam- 
ine their merits. The Scriptures require us to be scru- 
pulously obedient to the laws. They declare that " the 
powers that be are ordained of God;" and command us 
to " submit ourselves to every ordinance of man for the 
Lord's sake," to be " subject not only for wrath, but also 
for conscience' sake." Nobody, however, questions the 
privilege of candidly and temperately investigating the 
conduct of those to whom the administration of public 
affairs has been confided. This is not only a prerogative 
inseparable from freedom, but a duty we owe to the com- 
monwealth of which we are guardians, and to our rulers 
themselves — who have a right to any knowledge we pos- 
sess, who will never hear the truth from obsequious para- 
sites, and must be profited by the honest counsels of the 
wise and good in the land. But to rest ultimately in 
subordinate agencies, and come short of the glory of that 
God in whose hands they are only clay in the hands of 
the potter ; to forget that the Ass)rian was only "the rod 
of his anger," that Herod and Pontius Pilate did " only 



182 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

what his hand and his counsel determined before to be 
done/' that not only all matter but all spirit,— our loves, 
hates, schemes passions, our very sins,— is over-ruled by 
infallible wisdom ; not to know that things which to us 
seem reigning confusion and uncertainty are pre-estab- 
lished harmonies and subserve the purposes of eternal 
power and goodness: — such blindness is not more insult- 
ing to the Supreme Intelligence, than it is disgraceful to 
our reason and philosophy. 

My brethren, when we thus dwell upon second causes 
what do we mean ? what is our system ? Is the world 
around us a chaos of fortuitous atoms, as Epicurus 
taught? oris it a collection of beings which God has 
formed, and which he governs by laws he has established ? 
In creating matter, did not God foresee all the possible 
results of all possible arrangements of matter ? In form- 
ing mind, did not God foreknow all the consequences of 
all the possible conceptions and combinations of intelli- 
gent agents ? In endowing his creatures with affections 
and passions, did he not comprehend all the possible 
workings and effects of these faculties? Unless we deny 
the omniscience of the Supreme Being, w T e can give but 
one reply to these questions. But if we answer these 
questions affirmatively, then we must discard the omni- 
potence and benignity of God ; or we must admit that 
— foreseeing all possible effects — he does order all changes 
for the highest and noblest purposes; so that " the wrath 
of man shall praise him ;" so that the hearts of kings shall 
be turned as the rivers of waters to do his will ; so that 
not a sparrow, not a hair of our head can fall without his 
direct command ; so that the felicity of his children shall 
be secured by their profoundest afflictions, the empire of 
Satan shall be demolished by its very triumphs, and dis- 
asters which seem fatal to the Redeemer's cause shall ex- 
tend and perpetuate his kingdom. 

And this forgetfulness of an all-pervading Providence 
is as pernicious in its influence as it is impious in itself. 
While we recognize God, there will be no sinful resent- 
ment against those who afflict us; we will remember that 
they " could have no power except it were given them 
from on high ;" and we will imitate David who, in the 



Dispositions under National Judgments, 183 

gloomiest period of his life, when Shimei cursed him, 
and when Abishai, burning with indignation, asked per- 
mission to slay the reviler of God's anointed, calmly re- 
plied, " Let him curse, the Lord hath said unto him, Curse 
David." But if w r e confine our attention to human agents, 
the inevitable consequence must be that our thoughts 
will be diverted from our sins, and instead of humblingour- 
selves penitently, we will only add to the guilt for which 
God is chastising us, the fresh guilt of bitterness, malig- 
nity, and revenge against those whom we view as the archi- 
tects of our ruin. It is true that this over-ruling power 
does not diminish the wickedness of men, but it furnishes 
reflections which will moderate our anger, and prevent 
the irritation and exasperation which would otherwise 
inflame our souls. " Dearly beloved, avenge not your- 
selves, but rather give place unto wrath," (that is, leave 
the matter with God who judgeth uprightly) u for it is 
written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. 
Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, 
give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of 
tire upon his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome 
evil with good." 

This is not all. Overlooking God in the calamities 
which come upon us, we will overlook him in our hopes 
of deliverance from those calamities, our expectation 
will be from human wisdom and power. " Thus saith 
the Lord, cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and 
making flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from 
the Lord," — such was the denunciation against Israel 
for withdrawing their trust from Jehovah, and placing 
it upon their own resources. My dear brethren, have 
we not incurred this sentence ? On every hand panegyr- 
ics proclaim the transcendant skill of the national 
financiers and diplomatists, the perfect equipment and 
discipline of the army and navy, the experience and 
prowess of distinguished military commanders; but 
where is the public sense of dependence upon God's 
protecting care ? Except a few whom in these dark 
days the Holy Spirit is drawing closer to Jesus, we seek 
in vain for those who are looking up for aid, who are re- 
pairing humbly, suppliantly, instinctively to the throne 
.. ii8*. ■- - V . .... 



184 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

of the Heavenly Grace, saying, " Our souls, wait only 
upon God, for our expectation is from him ; he only is 
our rock and our salvation and our glory, the rock of 
our strength and our refuge is in God. Trust in him at 
all times; ye people pour out your heart before him ; 
God is a refuge for us. Give us help from trouble, for 
vain is the help of man. Except the Lord build the 
house they labor in vain that build it; except the Lord 
keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain. Some 
trust in chariots, and some in horses ; but we will re- 
member the name of the Lord." 

II. Having dwelt longer than I intended upon the 
speaking and thinking which are "not aright," I will 
now indicate in so many words the duties which become 
us in this "day of trouble and of rebuke and of blas- 
phemy." 

The first duty, — that which the appointment of this 
day and our assembling in this house immediately sug- 
gest, — is, the remembrance of God, the detachment of 
our minds from those exterior objects upon which our 
attention has been dissipated, and the recognition of 
that hand which is now lifted up to chasten us that we 
may be corrected, or to plunge us into an abyss of ruin. 
God now hearkens and hears, that he may know whether 
we thus humbly acknowledge his direct visitation in 
these national disorders. " When thou art in tribulation, 
and all these things are come upon thee, if thou turn to 
the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice, 
(for the Lord thy God is a merciful God) he will not 
forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the cove- 
nant of thy fathers which he sware unto them." On 
the other hand, if we refuse to consider him who is 
afflicting us, we must expect sorer judgments. " Lord 
when thy hand is lifted up they will not see; but they 
shall see ;" blows shall come which will compel them to 
confess that there is a God who judgeth in the earth, 
and these blows shall strike suddenly the rulers and the 
people, the highest and the lowest. " The people turn- 
eth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they 
seek the Lord of hosts; therefore the Lord will cut off 
from Israel head and tail, branch and rush. in one day." 



Dispositions under National Judgments. 185 

It is the province of statesmen to explore the past, to 
discover the causes of the present convulsions; and cer- 
tainly, whatever may have been the deficiencies of our 
politicians in other respects, there has been no stint in 
this style of patriotism. If the country can be saved 
by dissertations on the origin of our troubles, we may 
dismiss all apprehensions. In Congress, by the press, 
from platforms and pulpits, men have speculated and 
dogmatized, — differing from each other, and sometimes 
strangely contradicting themselves. But of what avail 
are these theories now? The persistent injustice of the 
North. The pride and arrogance of the South. The 
reckless fanaticism of the abolitionists. The disappointed 
ambition of demagogues. Well, well, but my brother, 
argue as you may as to these matters, what good have 
you accomplished ? You have denounced your op- 
ponent, you have exposed his falsehood ; you have con- 
vinced yourself, if nobody else; but have you brought 
the country any nearer to the end of its distresses ? No, 
and again, No. Whatever may have been the instru- 
mentality, there is one Being who " hath brought this 
great evil upon us," and who alone can say to the tem- 
pest, " Peace, be still." Let us bow reverently before 
this Being. Let us lie low in devout acknowledgment 
of his awful power and divine majesty. Elated with 
prosperity, Nebuchadnezzar did not " know that the 
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it 
to whom he will." For this forgetfulness of the God 
who had exalted him, you remember how deeply he was 
humbled. When his punishment had accomplished the 
divine purposes, the anger of the Lord ceased; and from 
this heathen we may learn the sentiments of awe, 
humiliation, adoration, which become us to-day. "I 
Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and 
mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the 
Most High, and 1 praised and honored him that liveth 
forever, wiiose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and 
his kingdom is from generation to generation. And all 
the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and 
he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, 
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can 
stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou ? Now 



186 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King 
of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways 
judgment; and those that walk in pride he is able to 
abase." 

We are shocked at the mythology of the ancient 
Greeks and Eomans; but their faith even in such deities 
did shed over them some influences for good. Regarding 
their gods as the witnesses, rewarders, avengers of 
human actions, they constantly appealed to them, as the 
arbiters by whom the destinies of individuals and of 
nations were decided. For us to be " without God in 
the world ;" for us, at this day, when the Bible unfolds 
such conceptions of his character, and such motives to 
raise us above the earth in rejoicing adoration of the 
wisdom, power, and goodness which preside over the 
universe ; — for us now, especially under chastisement, 
to banish him from the affairs of the world, this is a 
stupidity and depravity of which the Scriptures speak 
in terms of amazement and abhorrence. " The ox 
knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but 
Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." 
" Understand, ye brutish among the people, and ye fools 
when will ye be wise ? He that planted the ear shall he 
not hear ? He that formed the eye shall he not see ? 
He that ehastiseth the heathen shall not he cor- 
rect? He that teacheth man knowledge shall not he 
know ?" Let us guard against this gloomy blindness 
which surrenders us to inexplicable confusion, leaves us 
at the mercy of human passions ; or binds us as helpless 
victims to a mechanical system of general laws, against 
which all prayers and precautions are only impotent 
struggles to escape an exorable fatalism. Let us recol- 
lect, too, that just so far as men can eradicate the sense 
of God's all pervading presence, they prostrate the only 
barriers which can effectually restrain their vicious pro- 
pensities, and are ready, even in the midst of the most 
appalling providences, to abandon themselves to the in- 
toxication of the wildest excesses " as the horse rusheth 
into the battle." " Wo unto them that rise up early in 
the morning that they may follow strong drink, that 
continue until night till wine inflame them, and the 



Dispositions under National Judgments, 187 

harp, and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine are in 
their feasts ; but they regard not the works of the Lord 
nor the operation of his hands." 

Having recognized the hand of God in these eventful 
scenes through which we are passing, our next duty is, 
to ascribe the sore evils now afflicting this land to the 
sins by which his anger has been justly provoked, and 
to repent of those sins. 

It is not for us to determine the precise end which 
God contemplates in present his dispensations towards 
us ; and the confidence with which we every day hear 
men pronouncing upon the secrets of eternal wisdom, is 
a sad proof of folly and presumption. The great thing 
for us is not to penetrate the hidden decrees of the Eter- 
nal, but to learn the plain lessons which he is teaching 
us. And, beyond all doubt, God's judgments are always 
intended to remind us of our condition as fallen, guilty 
beings. Labor, pain, suffering, famine, pestilence, war, 
— could not God prevent these calamities ? Certainly. 
Why then are they permitted ? Because, on this planet, 
the Divine Government is dealing with apostate sub- 
jects, who need this sharp discipline to prevent still 
greater evils. To judge of God's providences without 
taking this principle along with us, is as if a man 
should go around a district desolated by fire or flood, 
and, forgetting the deluge or conflagration, should be 
curiously enquiring,what could have blackened this wall? 
or charred that door ? or what could have swept this 
wreck here ? and piled up that heap of rubbish there ? 

God designs, however, not only by his general treat- 
ment to make us feel our fallen condition, but by 
special inflictions to punish us, as individuals and as 
nations, for oar crimes. Conscience tells us that pain is 
the proper penalty of sin. And between our iniquities 
and our sufferings there is a connection indissoluble, 
though mysterious; a connection sometimes manifest 
even to others ; but generally perceived only by ourselves, 
traced with vivid and terrible distinctness in our own 
consciousness, when some bitter affliction "brings our 
sin to remembrance." 



188 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

Rations, as nations, exist only in the present economy ; 
the chastisements sent upon them must, therefore, 
be imputed to their crimes. Among individuals, excep- 
tions may be found to the rule, that success follows 
honesty; for great prosperity sometimes attends the 
breach of private faith. But as to nations there are no 
exceptions. Sooner or later, violations of public faith 
are sure to avenge themselves on a guilty people ; and 
sometimes the judgments which scourge them are the 
striking, palpable rebounds of their sins. We see at 
once the connection between the destruction of the first- 
born of Egypt, and the murder of the first-born of the 
Israelites. The accumulated miseries of the French 
Eevolution had their origin, remotely but clearly, in the 
massacre of St. Bartholomew, and the revocation of the 
edict of Nantes. And other examples could easily be 
cited. When I announce this proposition from the pul- 
pit, everybody receives it as almost self-evident. But 
carry it into the councils and cabinets which govern 
empires, and it will be received as one of those supersti- 
tious commonplaces that deserve no serious practical 
attention. Nay, my brethren, while we all readily as- 
sent to this maxim, how many of us believe it and act 
upon it ? 

I take great pleasure in remarking that the Proclama- 
tion which invited us to meet here to-day distinctly and 
emphatically recognizes this great principle. It attributes 
these national judgments to the displeasure of that Su- 
preme Euler against whom we have sinned. It is to con- 
fess our iniquities as a people that we have assembled in 
this temple. It becomes us thus to keep this solemn fast. 
"Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chas- 
tisement, I will not offend any more ; that which I see 
not, teach thou me. If I have done iniquity, I will clo no 
more." But now, are we sincere in this show of peni- 
tence? In our very lamentations for what we call nation- 
al sins, are w r e not laying a flattering unction to our con- 
sciences ? If we would disarm, if we would not insult 
the Majesty of heaven, let us remember that the iniquities 
of a nation are the aggregate iniquities of those who con- 
stitute the nation, and that it is the confession, of indi- 



Dispositions under National Judgments. 189 



vicinal guilt which God especially requires. " I hearkened 
and heard, but they spake not aright; no man repented 
him of his wickedness, saying, what have I done 1 ?" 

In speaking of national sins, most persons seem to intend 
the iniquities which are sanctioned by public authority, 
or which have been committed by those in office; at least, 
they plainly mean the corruptions of some party or some 
people much worse than themselves. And, unquestiona- 
bly, if to acknowledge and bewail the sins of others were 
our duty, God would not hearken and hear in vain to-day. 
If to say what others have done, to blacken the characters 
and abhor the conduct of others; if this be contrition, 
why then the preaching of Jonah did not produce such 
penitents as those who crowd our streets and fill our 
churches. Our compunctious visitings are marked, too, 
by the very characters which the apostle designates as 
the proofs of genuine repentance. For I may truly say 
of you, " Behold what clearing of yourselves; yea, what 
indignation; yea, what revenge" But if what the Inspector 
of hearts demands be, that each of us shall smite upon 
his breast and cry, "God be merciful to me, a sinner," 
then, I ask, where are our penitents ? In all this assem- 
bly, in this city, in this nation, where are those who are 
searching their own bosoms, trying their own thoughts, 
deploring and forsaking the sins in their own lives which 
have contributed to bring these tokens of God's anger 
upon us? Suppose that this moment the Judge of all 
should offer to spare us, if in this city he could find fifty, 
if forty, if thirty, if twenty, if ten souls, bowed down in 
self-abhorrence for their sins ; do you believe that we 
would be spared ? 

Oh, what a contrast between our spirit and that of 
Daniel, who, though " a man greatly beloved," commences 
his confessions with his own guilt. "And whiles I was 
speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin" What a 
contrast between this nation and that city whose profound 
"humiliation once caused the lifted thunder to drop from 
the band of an insulted God. Though an unknown 
stranger, scarcely has Jonah announced his mission, when 
the aspect of the whole metropolis is changed ; and for- 
getting all distinctions, burying all animosities, the 



190 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

haughty king, the corrupt aristocracy, the idolatrous 
priests, the ignorant, degraded people at once cover them- 
selves with sackcloth and ashes before a Deity of whom 
they knew so little. This Deity we well know. Not by 
the voice of a stranger, but by his own terrible judgments, 
this God is now seeking to subdue our rebellious spirits, 
to bring us to abase ourselves in the dust, feeling that he 
remembers all our wickedness, and that our own doings 
have justly drawn down all this vengeance upon us. 

But, alas for the spectacle now exhibited in these States 
— I mean in these States which are called loyal. With 
the Divine wrath hovering over us, and ready to launch 
its curses upon our guilty heads, we are filled with wrath, 
we are launching curses against each other. While God 
is rebuking and scourging us so signally, we are saying, 
" We do well to be angry." At home, in our cities, at our 
very firesides, we are fostering passions unknown to a gen- 
erous soldier when facing his foe, or mingling in the shock 
of battle.* At a time when all ought to put their mouths 
in the dust, and humble themselves under the mighty 
hand which corrects us, we are fulminating mutual 
anathemas, hurling criminations and recriminations, in- 
dulging in party rancor, in personal malignity, in those 
most deplorable tempers which are now envenoming so 
many hearts, dividing so many families, rending in pieces 
so many churches. 

I will only add that, in this day of visitation, prayer 
— the prayer of penitence and faith— is our urgent duty 
and our unspeakable consolation. "Ye that make men- 
tion of the Lord " (literally, ye that are his remembran- 
cers to remind him of his promises) " keep not silence." 
"We acknowledge, Lord, our wickedness, and the ini- 
quity of our fathers, fcr Ave have sinned against thee. Yet 
though our iniquities testify against us, do not abhor us; 
leave us not. Turn us again, God; cause thy face to 
shine, and we shall be saved. Lord God, the God of 
the spirits of all flesh, is there anything toohard for thee ? 
Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great 
power, and by thy stretched out arm. Incline thine ear 
and hear; open thine eyes, behold our miseries ; for we 

* See Note on page 194. 



Dispositions under National Judgments. 191 

do not present our supplications before thee for our right- 
eousness, but for thy great mercies." 

One of the special objects for which we keep this holy 
day, is prayer. The penitential cries of a nation can ar- 
rest and turn away the anger of God, even after sentence 
has gone forth against it. "At what instant I shall speak 
concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck 
up and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation 
against whom I have pronounced turn from the evil, I 
will repent of the evil I thought to do unto them." And 
this is most touchingly seen in the history to which I 
have just referred ; that record of man's cruel nature, — 
for what harm had the Ninevites ever done to Jonah ? — 
and of the benignity of Him who " is good and ready to 
forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call 
upon him." 

If we refuse to "turn to Him that smiteth us," nothing 
is left but that more fearful judgments should overtake 
us. "If ye will not be reformed by me by these things, 
but will walk contrary unto me, then will I also walk con- 
trary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for 
your sins." On the contrary, if our hearts be humbled, 
and we " accept of the punishment of our iniquities," 
there are no limits to the promises which are made to 
the prayer of faith. No matter into wiiat depths we have 
sunk, " if from thence we shall seek the Lord our God, we 
shall find him, if we seek him with all our heart and 
with all our soul, for the Lord our God is a merciful 
God." Let us implore the forgiveness and interposition 
of this adorable Being. Let us run and cast ourselves 
in the breach, to turn away the wrath of God, lest he 
should destroy us all. 

In this day of darkness and of gloominess our earnest 
prayers ought to ascend for our country. And under- 
stand what that word imports. When I speak of our 
country, I mean not merely the soil upon which we 
happen to be born or to live, but everything which is 
dearest to the human heart. I mean liberty, self- 
government, peace, truth, honor, civilization, progress, 
prosperity, all the amenities of life, all the charms of 
friendship, all the endearments of home, in short, all 



192 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

those political, civil, domestic, religious institutions 
which have diffused such blessed influences over the 
land. We pray for all this, when we pray for our coun- 
try. In the name of Him who, as he saw the shadows 
infolding his earthly country, " wept over it, saying, If 
thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, 
the things which belong to thy peace!"— in the name of 
Jesus we humble ourselves before the Father of an in- 
finite majesty, imploring him to avert his righteous in- 
dignation, and to perpetuate these inestimable privileges 
to us, our children, and our children's children, to the 
remotest posterity. 

With redoubled fervency and importunity we ought 
now to pray that the Gospel may assert its supremacy, 
as the wisdom of God, and the power of God for the 
regeneration of a ruined world. Eest assured, this is 
our only hope, if we desire the permanent restoration of 
peace and harmony among these States, and the cessation 
of wars to the end of the earth. The promises we every 
day hear of a speedy reconciliation between the dis- 
severed portions of the Union, by some political con- 
trivances, some wise party combinations, may be quite 
sincere and patriotic, but they are really the wildest 
chimeras of a distempered imagination. No, my friends, 
while we look to human agencies, it is not peace, but 
war, and war waged with unmitigated determination, we 
must expect. It must be so from the very nature of the 
conflict, which is a war of principles, and admits of no 
compromise. Here and everywhere there can be in- 
violable peace and good will among men, only as the 
religion of Jesus extirpates those lusts from whence 
come wars and fightings. That, century after century, 
the annals of our race have been written in blood, is a 
phenomenon which shocks us, but they will continue to 
be written in blood until grace shall reign where sin 
now reigns. 

Philanthropists have hoped that education, civilization, 
or close bonds of union might impress a different char- 
acter upon fallen humanity; they ought to see, however, 
in the history of refined Europe, and especially in the 
civil war now ravaging this country, how visionary are 



Dispositions under National Judgments. 193 

these schemes. But let vital Christianity, as it glowed 
in the Saviour's bosom, pervade the earth, "and there will 
be no more war ; because there will be no more envy, 
jealousy, rivalry, malignity, fraud, violence, perfidy, 
rapacity. " Nation shall not lift up sword against 
nation, neither shall they learn war any more;" because 
the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms 
of Christ, and he will subdue all those passions of which 
war is at once the fruit and the punishment. Men will 
then reverence the dignity of human nature, and the 
sauctity of human rights; they will feel the power of 
love binding them to a common Father and to each 
other; they will recognize the sacredness of justice; they 
will regard self-sacrifice as one of the highest duties, 
and the lust of dominion over their fellow creatures as 
one of the most detestable crimes. 

Lastly, THY WILL BE DONE ! let this be now and 
ever the language of our inmost souls. Let us go to the 
bottom of our hearts, and put and keep ourselves in har- 
mony with God; with all his will, unknown as well as 
known. 

I do not presume to read the future as to our own 
State, or as to the nation. Desolation has careered 
along our borders, and we have been spared. Space has 
been given us for repentance, yet we have not repented. 
We know not what any hour may bring upon us. This 
once glorious Union is rent by convulsions. Lurid 
storms have muffled up the prospects which lately 
cheered the land and the whole earth, nor can any mor- 
tal vision pierce the gloomy recesses beyond. But " the 
Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice. Clouds and dark- 
ness are round about Him, righteousness and judgment 
are the habitation of His throne." The living Spirit is 
in the wheels, guiding them on their course ; and though 
the maddening axles should be driven through blood 
and fire, each revolution is accomplishing the purposes, 
carrying forward the enterprises of eternal wisdom, 
power and love. Let us cherish habitual faith in Him 
who holds the destinies of the universe in his hand, no 
matter how dangerous the clouds, how portentous the 



194 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

darkness, which veil His throne, and lower above our 
heads. 

If thus, in humble, adoring confidence, speaking and 
feeling aright, we cry unto God, the Mercy Seat will not 
be inaccessible to us, sprinkled as it is with the blood of 
atonement; this day shall not be spent in vain; and 
what may we not expect from that wisdom and goodness 
which planted these States, and have watched over them 
amid so many perils ? Like Abraham before Sodom, let 
us plead for a guilty nation. Like David, "when he 
saw the angel that smote the people," let us throw our- 
selves between the sword and its victims. Like the 
faithful few in Jerusalem, let us " sigh, and cry for all 
the abominations that be done in the midst of us/' 
Then we may hope that the sword will be commanded 
to return to its scabbard. Or, if it must still devour, we 
can calmly look up to the hand which wields its terrors; 
we shall experience the fulfillment of that promise, 
" Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is 
stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee;" and these 
calamities will cause us to lift our aspirations more 
lovingly and longingly to that country where the wicked 
cease from troubling and the weary are at rest, in which 
there shall be no more curse, neither any pain, or sorrow, 
or crying, or death, but the redeemed of the Lord shall 
walk there, and they shall hunger no more, neither 
thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor 
any heat, — for the Lamb which is in the midst of the 
throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living 
fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears 
from their eyes. 



[See Page 190.) 
Note. — While regarding war as an expression of human de- 
pravity, — a depravity which would remain and find some other 
development if war should cease, — I am far from denying that 
many very fice traits of character are brought out by the profes- 
sion of arms. The discipline of arduous campaigns and the rap* 
ture of battle elevate the soul to a self-sacrifice, courage and he- 
roism, which command universal admiration. Nor only these 
martial virtues. Between the officers and soldiers of contending 
armies there are often passages of chivalrous amenity and genuine 



Dispositions under National Judgments. 195 

kindness, which ought to rebuke the rancor and bitterness 
now pervading this city. Two instances of this generous feeling 
have come directly to my knowledge, and I cannot resist the 
pleasure of reciting them. 

The first case showed the noble spirit of a common soldier, and 
took place on the bloody plains of Antietam. While with a 
piece of rock he was assisting a member of his company to ham- 
mer the ball in a rifle which had become leaded, Captain Robert- 
son, of Georgia, was shot down. There he lay till the close of 
the fight, and about ten paces from him lay a Federal soldier, also 
badly wounded. When the Confederates had retired and the 
firing had ceased, one of those harpies who prowl about camps 
approached the Captain, and, seeing a gold chain on his breast, at 
once seized it, with a valuable gold watch, and was making off 
with his spoils in spite of the entreaties of the Captain, who was 
unable to move at all. No sooner did the Federal soldier see 
what had happened, than he seized a gun near him, and raising 
himself on his arm with great difficulty and pain, he levelled it 
at the thief, ordering him to restore the plunder ; an order which 
was tremblingly obeyed. He then crawled to his prostrate foe, 
and they lay side by side in friendly conversation, consoling each 
other, till stretchers were brought during the night and they were 
taken away. 

The other instance was a deed of graceful courtesy soon after 
the battle of Fair Oaks. In that affair the Federal forces lost 
most of their camp equipage. Among ttiose who displayed great 
gallantry at Fair Oaks was General Briggs, a son of Governor 
Briggs, of Massachusetts ; — that model of true Christian nobleness, 
whom God mercifully spared the misery of living in these times, 
and of whom I may truly say, 

Justum ac tenacem propositi virum 
Non civium ardor prava jubentium, 
Non vultus instantis tyranni 
Mente quatit solida. 

This officer was severely wounded, and, besides other things, he 
lost the miniatures of his wife and children. By the very first 
flag of truce the pictures were sent to him ; with a letter from 
General Jenkins, of South Carolina, in which the writer warmly 
assured General Briggs of the great gratification he felt in being 
able at once to restore the portraits. He would be happy, 
he said, to meet General Briggs at all times in the field ; but he 
was a husband and father himself, and he well knew how pre- 
cious such treasures were to the heart. 



196 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



SktxmtM SSlrtoeutft* 



A CITY OR HOUSE DIVIDED 
AGAINST ITSELF.* 

" And every city or house divided against itself shall not stand."— 
Matt, xii : 25. 

MY BRETHREN: You have fully known my man- 
ner of life — from my first leaving home, friends, 
family, and an endeared church, that I might come among 
you — to this present day. So scrupulously have I ab- 
stained from politics here, that during eighteen years I 
have exercised the right of suffrage only twice; once when 
the cause of Temperance was at stake, and once that I 
might give my vote to a worthy man who had publicly as- 
sailed me for my religious opinions. For all who have 
questioned me as to parties and factions, my answer has 
been this: lama Christian. What is your name? / 
am a Christian. What side are you on ? I am a Chris- 
tian. Where is your home ? 1 am a Christian. What 
is your occupation ? / am a Christian. What are your 
aims, aspirations ? I am a Christian. "God forbid that 
I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
iy whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the 
world." Nor this morning am I going to depart from 
my settled purpose ; for the matter before us has not to 
do with partizan questions, but is of profound national 
and religious importance. 

In the preceding con text, Jesus speaks of the weakening, 
ruinous effects of civil war. "Every kingdom divided 
against itself is brought to desolation/' And of these 



A City or House Divided against Itself. 197 

calamities we have, during the last few years, been receiv- 
ing terrible lessons. We had read before of the horrors 
of war. Alas, bitter experience has taught us now what 
war means ; — the ravages of armies; fields waving in rich 
harvest swept over as by fire ; the terror and consterna- 
tion impressed upon a quiet village by the approach of 
hostile battalions, — women and children, the aged and 
infirm flying from their homes, and those homes laid in 
ashes; the heaps of dead weltering in their gore, festering 
under a broiling sun, and devoured by foul beasts and 
obscene birds of prey, and the heaps of wounded, lacer- 
ated, mangled, to whom death would have been a mercy; 
multitudes forever unfitted by lives of recklessness, tu- 
mult, and blood, for the peaceful pursuits of society ; the 
honest laborer stripped of his hard-earned pittance, and 
burdened with taxes, while profligate bloodsuckers and 
plunderers of the public revenue batten in bloated afflu- 
ence ; freedom imperilled by the alarming accumulation 
of power in the hands of the Government, and by the cre- 
ation of vast bodies of men inured to a wild unsettled ex- 
istence, hardened by familiarity with violence and rapine, 
delighting to follow an intrepid, victorious leader — know- 
ing no agency but that of physical force, and to whom the 
excitements of the campaign and the delirious raptures of 
battle (" gaudia certaminis ") have become as the breath 
of their nostrils; but I will not dwell on this dis- 
mal picture. It is enough to say, in the language of 
General Sherman, at Atlanta, that ''War is barbarism;" 
that where invading legions penetrate, their course is 
over blackened wastes and ruins, and the music to which 
they march is the cries, wails, shrieks of human wretch- 
edness; that their very mission is to kill, devastate, de- 
stroy; in a word, that amidst flagrant hostilities, there 
is, and mu&t be a suspension of all the rules, principles, 
blessed influences, which the Gospel seeks to diffuse over 
the earth. 

These hideous phenomena have now disappeared. God 
has commanded the sword to return to its scabbard; 
there, I hope, to rust. But Jesus well knew that the 
evils of civil war do not cease with the war. He knew 
what is in man ; what mutual jealousies, animosities, 



198 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

hatreds, intestine war always entails upon a nation. 
Hence in the text, he warns us of the pernicious conse- 
quences of social and domestic dissensions: — "And every 
city or house divided against itself shall not stand." It 
is upon this topic I wish to say a few words. Honor me 
with a fair and candid hearing. 

Of the malignity of those passions which spring from 
civil war, as from a prolific and poisoned root, I need 
not speak in general terms. You are only too mourn- 
fully familiar with them. You know too well how they 
so blind and distort men's minds, that they can judge 
impartially of nothing, — neither of persons nor actions ; 
how the very language of a people is perverted, and 
truth, honor, friendship, integrity, patriotism, religion, 
borrow new meanings from party zeal and rancor; how, 
stirred and agitated as if by infernal fires, society casts 
to the surface its most dangerous elements, — bad men 
and fanatics who, sometimes under the pretense of loyal- 
ty, sometimes under the garb of religion, seek to perse- 
cute all who will not run to the same excess of bitter- 
ness with themselves ; how, even in woman, the voice of 
peace, love, charity is silenced, and noise, clamor, evil 
speaking, and malice, riot on every hand ; how their 
leaders shrink from addressing the reason of the multi- 
tude, and prefer to follow their prejudices and passions ; 
and how the press and the pulpit become vitiated, and 
pander to the depraved public appetite for sensation and 
mischief. 

All wars are fruitful in this pernicious husbandry; 
especially those waged between nations which are con- 
tiguous, as were England and Scotland before their 
union. But this harvest comes to its baleful perfection 
only after such convulsions as those which have been 
shaking this land like an earthquake. As the glowing 
floods from the bosom of a volcano are soid to impart 
wonderful fertility to the soil, so the lava passions which 
during a civil war inundate the land and burn like a con- 
flagration, quicken into a rank and dismal vegetation all 
the worst corruption of our nature. 

With reference to the evils to be dreaded from these 
fraternal hostilities which for the past four years have 



A City or House Divided against Itself. 199 

been raging over this country, there are two truths which 
must fill a thoughtful mind with concern and alarm. — 
The first is, the character of the people who have been 
arrayed against each other, and among whom war has not 
been "a game at which kings have played," but a con- 
flict into which every man and woman has entered, heart 
and soul. 

Never was there upon the earth a population so restless, 
active and enterprising. It is not merely that the coun- 
try is in the prime and flush of its youth ; there seem to 
enter into its very constitution a boldness, a daring spirit 
of adventure, a thirst for stimulating competitions, an 
intelligence, an energy, an enthusiasm, the vigor and elas- 
ticity of which have risen with a rebound under the se- 
verest pressure and which have illustrated this protracted 
struggle by a valor, a self-immolation, a wealth of re- 
source, a prodigal lavishment of blood and treasure, a 
chivalrous heroism, such as the world had never wit- 
nessed. 

Now, for the mariner who has been tossed day and 
night for weeks upon an ocean lashed by the fury of trop- 
ical hurricanes to expect the surges at once to subside, 
when the storm abates, would not be half so unreasonable 
as for us to hope that all these characteristic impulses 
and passions will be arrested by the cessation of actual 
hostilities. The tendency may be to repose; but unless 
Jesus himself shall say, " Peace, be still," and the benig- 
nant spirit of the Gospel be breathed into men's souls, 
our community will continue to be pervaded and dis- 
turbed by private animosities, by personal hatreds, by an 
inflamed party rancor utterly unscrupulous in sacrificing 
the tranquillity and happiness of society for the gratifica- 
tion of its ambition or resentments, by dark baleful feuds 
between neighbors and members of the same family, ex- 
asperated by mutual injuries and insults, rejoicing in 
each other's humiliation, burning for each other's ruin. 

The other truth is, that we have a common language. 
When a contest between two nations separated by inter- 
vening provinces has been terminated, little remains to 
keep alive bitter and malignant feelings. Even between 
ii 9 



200 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

countries which are conterminous, if they speak different 
languages, there can be no general and intimate inter- 
change of thoughts and feelings, because their respective 
populations do not understand each other. Although 
they touch there is no real contact between them. Col- 
lect a number of persons under the same roof, or in the 
same assembly; if they express themselves in various dia- 
lects, they are still strangers with a whole hemisphere 
keeping them apart. They cannot co-operate for good. 
Hence on the day of Pentecost, that the converts from 
various parts of the earth might combine together in 
the work of the Gospel, this barrier was removed by a 
miracle. And they are equally restrained from any con- 
spiracy for evil. They cannot give vent to sentiments of 
malice, hatred, ridicule or revenge. 

A common language enables these United States and 
the citizens of these States to act upon one another di- 
rectly, and with the most unremitting and mischievous 
power. This nation has never been involved in war, it 
has been entangled in only a few unpleasant complica- 
tions, with any of the empires on the continent of Europe, 
because, however arrogant may have been their tone and 
bearing, they express themselves in tongues unknown to 
the masses here. Their insults are, therefore, compara- 
tively harmless. It has been just the reverse with Eng- 
land. We have already been engaged in two wars Avith 
her, and are now, I fear, drifting into a third. And one 
reason is, that not a taunt can be uttered there, not a 
term of reproach, scorn, defiance, — in Parliament, in the 
Cabinet, at a public meeting, in a parlor — which does 
not reach the general ear on this side of the water, and 
kindle the indignation of every sequestered village and 
hamlet. And if this be true as to Great Britain, with a 
whole ocean rolling between us, need I tell you what will 
be the growing alienations and exasperations in commu- 
nities, the members of which are closely bound together, 
are meeting each other every day, and where a mercenary 
press and the virulence of political factions, of personal 
hatred and vindictiveness are constantly inflaming the 
worst passions by torrents of calumny and misrepresenta- 
tions, by stinging insinuations and invectives. 



A City or House Divided against Itself. 201 

Enter, my brethren, into these truths. And now, think 
what must be the results, if this deplorable state of things 
continues, if these criminations and recriminations, this 
interchange of resentment and abuse go on estranging and 
exacerbating those who live in the same city, in the same 
street, in the same house. The consequences are as in- 
evitable as they will be disastrous. 

Party spirit — the most ferocious and relentless of all 
vices — will be wrought up to madness. We shall walk 
every day over hidden fires; and every election will be an 
outburst of pent up rage and fury, — the explosion of a 
concealed mine loaded with the most destructive mate- 
rials. 

The moral sentiment of the community will be im- 
paired and debauched. Truth, reason, candor will be 
driven out of the land by a vitiated taste; the very ideas 
of right and wrong will be weakened and well nigh abol- 
ished ; a false, meretricious standard of honor and dis- 
honor will be erected; men will no longer be deterred by 
shame, nor impelled by a proper love of praise; rewards 
and reproaches will be distributed so unjustly, that the 
worthiest citizens will be proscribed, and the vilest men 
will be exalted; virtue will be no longer the end but the 
means ; it will be no more charity but party zeal which 
will "cover the multitude of sins." This corruption of 
the public manners may begin in obscure and insignifi- 
cant quarters, but it will soon infect the whole body pol- 
itic. The blood can diffuse life and health only when it 
circulates freely through all the vessels. Disease com- 
mences insidiously in the obstructions of the minuter 
veins and channels. But soon the arteries and the heart 
feel the the disorder, and coldness, feebleness, death spread 
over the entire system. 

I will only add, that the fatal seeds of prejudice and 
passion which are sown broadcast by civil war send their 
venomous roots in every direction, into the very sanctuary 
of God and into the shrines of domestic peace and happi- 
ness. 

The meekness, the forbearance, the gentleness, all the 
sweet charities of the religion of Jesus are supplanted by 
envy, hatred, malice. Ministers no longer preach Christ 



202 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

crucified; they proclaim the dogmas, fulminate the anath- 
emas of a rabid, partizan intolerance. And churches 
and ecclesiastical conclaves become political inquisitors ; 
usurp the power which God has committed to the civil 
magistrate "for the punishment of evil doers, and for the 
praise of them that do well ; and thus instead of seeking 
the peace of Jerusalem, they fill her courts with strife, 
and cause all her pleasant places to mourn and be in 
bitterness. 

Nor are the sanctities of the domestic hearth safe from 
the unhallowed incursion of these truculent passions. — 
There, not Jesus, but the Devil " sends a sword " which 
severs the most sacred bonds ; setting the father against 
the son, and the son against the father ; the mother 
against the daughter, and the daughter against the 
mother; the husband against the wife, and the wife 
against the husband; so that a man's worst enemies are 
those of his own household. 

My friends, I have not spoken too strongly. No lan- 
guage can exaggerate the evils which civil war leaves 
behind it, thickly lodged in the very heart of society, in- 
terwoven with all its fibres, and endowed with the most 
subtile and terrible power of self-propagation. Alas, we 
all see how this community is now demoralized by these 
pestilent aftergrowths. From my inmost soul I mourn 
over their influence in the churches. At the North and 
at the South their developments are so portentous, that 
there is now before our Government one solemn alterna- 
tive, and only one. Either those indignities and humilia- 
tions which the fanatical passions of the hour would heap 
upon a brave people because they are now helpless must 
be arrested ; or the States lately in rebellion must, at a 
vast expense, be held under military despotism, as sub- 
jugated provinces, — filled with curses, "not loud but 
deep," (deeper because not loud,) against their rulers, — 
every now and then blazing up into desperate revolt, — 
and "peopled by two races bent upon each other's exter- 
mination. 

I now proceed to my remaining topic : The hope and 
salvation of a country thus rent by social and domestic 
dissensions. 



A City or House Divided against Itself. 203 

Unquestionably, something may be done by a wise, firm, 
yet kind administration of the Government. Let us not 
be ingenious to deceive ourselves. Superficial enthusiasts, 
office-seekers, and sycophants may say what they will, 
may cry, " Peace, peace, when there is no peace," but it is 
perfectly certain that the heart — the real, representative 
heart of the South is not loyal to the General Govern- 
ment, neither indeed can be until it is changed. Look 
at plain facts. These people have been fighting for what 
they believed to be their inalienable rights; and they 
have ponred out their riches like dirt and their blood 
like water. They are conquered ; but does this change 
their sentiments and feelings ? Force has been often 
tried in religion. It has made multitudes of hypocrites, 
but never a single convert; nor is it otherwise in politics. 
It is sheer downright folly to suppose that defeat has 
produced loyalty and love in those whose deep, I had al- 
most said whose religious conviction is, that they suffer 
for truth and freedom. 

If we love our country, our whole country, let us pray 
to God that our rulers maybe endowed with that "wis- 
dom which is from above," which " is first pure, then 
peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and 
good fruits;" with a wisdom which may rightly solve 
the problems of the present crisis, — problems compared 
with which the setting of squadrons and fighting of bat- 
tles are easy and common achievements. 

But after all, how little can mere human wisdom do 
for this convulsed and agitated land; nor have I any 
hope for our beloved country except as the principles of 
the religion of Jesus shall become the controlling element 
in the conduct of our rulers. Ko Government can be 
either permanent or beneficial, while the people and those 
in authority over them are living in rebellion against the 
Moral Governor of the universe. The whole power of 
the best jurisprudence is impotent to repress a single 
movement of human depravity. Its virtue will be wast- 
ed on the surface. It can never penetrate the recesses of 
the soul, and dry up the fountains of evil there, and cre- 
ate confidence and love and true loyalty in the millions 
of hearts which have been alienated. They are the 



204 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

friends neither of the South nor of the North who, at a 
period like the present, counsel sternness and tyranny. — 
Such measures can produce only " forced hallelujahs," 
sullen submission to a hated yoke; and these are not 
what the crisis demands. 

" Non tali auxilio, nee defensoribus istis, 
Tempus eget." 

It is the Gospel, my brethren, which is the hope of our 
land. It is only through the influence of the religion of 
Jesus that wars can cease, and all those lusts from which 
wars come, and which are so fed and invigorated by war 
that they survive the shock of arms and cling like a curse 
to a nation, long after armies have been disbanded and 
the noise of battle has passed away. 

I know, alas, that when I say this, the infidel and the 
scoffer will be ready with an answer which causes me to 
blush and bang my head in shame. They will remind 
me that some of the blackest pages of human history .are 
the records of those fierce wars which have desolated the 
earth in the name of religion. I open these sacred pages, 
and I hear angels announcing, "Peace on earth and good 
will among men," when the adorable Eedeemer entered 
upon his mission of love. In that Redeemer I behold the 
incarnation of love. His sermons were the accents of 
love. His exhortations were the beseechings of love. — 
His miracles were the interpositions of love. His tears 
were the sobbings and gushings of love. His death was 
the consummation, the glorification of love. 

I close this volume and turn to the annals of the 
church so miscalled, and what do I find ? I see the earth 
smoking with blood shed by the professed disciples of 
that Redeemer; the legacy of peace which he bequeathed 
to mankind converted" into a "roll written within and 
without with mourning, lamentation and woe;" his rep- 
resentatives carrying fire and sword over the fairest por- 
tions of that world which he died to reclaim to holiness 
and charity and philanthropy ; and the cross on which 
he expired exclaiming, " Father, forgive them," no longer 
lifted up as an ensign to gather the nations in sympathy 
and affection, but flaming as a banner to marshal hostile 



A City or House Divided against Itself. 205 

armies, to madden hordes of ruffians with frenzy and 
hatred, to precipitate them upon the work of slaughter, 
havoc, extermination, to mingle every rank, age, sex, in 
promiscuous massacre and carnage. 

But let not the infidel and the scoffer triumph. The 
religion of Jesus detests these deeds of darkness and 
crime. Jesus came to make peace upon the earth, to 
teach men that they are brothers, to recapitulate the 
whole human family under their common Father. And 
wherever the spirit of his Gospel is disseminated, there 
war and all its blighting passions will give w 7 ay to the 
soft but resistless triumphs of celestial grace and love. 

John the Baptist first began to preach " the kingdom 
of heaven," the reign of Messiah among men; and how 
very profoundly interesting to us at this hour, is the lan- 
guage of Malachi as to the effects of his ministry. " He 
shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and 
the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and 
smite the earth with a curse." It is here predicted that 
before the appearance of the Herald, Judea should be 
rent and torn by domestic animosities; and this prophecy 
w r as strikingly fulfilled. After a sanguinary conflict, the 
Jews were subjugated by the Eomans. While some of 
the vanquished accepted offices of profit from their haugh- 
ty victors, and some enlisted under the imperial eagles, 
others clung to their old hereditary pride and prejudices. 
Perhaps there never glowed in the human bosom such 
hatred as the Hebrews felt for their despised pagan con- 
querors ; they, therefore, scorned those of their sons and 
brethren who, through policy or for filthy lucre, consent- 
ed to any alliance with them. The consequence was that 
children were against parents and parents against chil- 
dren. These family feuds were so criminal in the sight 
of God, that he threatened fresh curses upon the people, 
if they persisted in them. But it is promised that John's 
ministry should allay these asperities. He was to be the 
Apostle of repentance ; and true repentance will subdue 
every vindictive feeling. He cried, "Behold the Lamb 
of God!" — pointing to that atonement, the magic power 
of which disarms every unhallowed passion, and to that 
perfect pattern of meekness, patience, gentleness, which 



206 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

is to absorb the admiration of the Christian, and to be 
the model for his character and life. 

Here, then, in its twilight, the Gospel was to put forth 
a benevolent potency in removing the very acrimonies of 
which I have spoken, and to bring the world to the obe- 
dience of the law of love. Hence, after quoting the pre- 
diction of Malachi, the angel added, (Luke i : 17,) " and 
to tarn the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make 
ready a people prepared for the Lord." Nor can we take 
the most superficial glance at the spirit and tendency of 
the Christian system without perceiving that it is the 
antidote to all " hatred, variance, emulation, wrath and 
strife." 

In the first place, the Gospel descends to the heart, to 
that deep and desperate depravity from which war and 
all its curses flow, as from a perennial fountain. Philos- 
ophers, statesmen, reformers overlook this lodged, rooted, 
moral disease ; and, therefore, all their theories — whether 
based upon good government, or education, or commer- 
cial intercourse — have proved, and will prove to be only 
abortions. The remedy is good and ought to effect a 
cure ; but the system is so disordered that its efficacy is 
utterly defeated. The machinery is complete; but the 
springs have no elasticity, the wheels will not revolve. — 
" What the law could not do because it was weak through 
the flesh, God has done by the mission of his Son." In 
this passage it is affirmed that the degeneracy of our na- 
ture renders impotent the lessons and enforcements even 
of God's perfect law ; w r hat a mockery, then, must be all 
the appliances of human wisdom which do not recognize 
and correct something radically wrong in humanity. The 
Gospel deals directly with this inherent depravity. It 
carries its searching, sanctifying energy to the very 
source and origin of the baneful disorder. God declares 
that war and its pernicious passions shall cease to afflict 
the world, only as Messiah's kingdom shall prevail. — 
" They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and 
their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift 
up the sword against nation, neither shall they learn 
w r ar any more." "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all 
my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the 



A City or House Divided against Itself. 207 

knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And 
in that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall 
stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles 
seek, and his rest shall be glorious. The jealousy also 
of Ephraim shall depart, and the enmity of Judah shall 
be no more. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah 
shall not vex Ephraim. The greaves of the armed war- 
rior in the conflict and the garments rolled in much 
blood, shall be a burning, even fuel for the fire. Eor un- 
to us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the 
government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name 
shall be called The Prince of Peace" Such are some of 
the magnificent promises of Eevelation ; and Eeason and 
Facts are in unison with Kevelation. 

I say Eeason ; for men are alienated from each other 
because they are estranged from God. Coming from the 
hands of the Essential Love and Goodness ; not created 
separately, bat " made of one blood," and deriving their 
being from a common parentage ; it would seem that 
men must cherish an instinctive affection for each other, 
must be bound together by benevolent sympathies, must 
feel a delightful complacency in each other's happiness, 
and abhor the very thought of inflicting misery upon 
each other. In the contrast to all this exhibited by the 
present condition of our race, we have a phenomenon so 
inexpressibly dreadful that it defies all our attempts to 
explain it, or to reconcile it with the goodness of an Al- . 
mighty Moral Euler. It can be referred only to that 
primal mysterious catastrophe to which the Scriptures 
ascribe all the wretched disorders of the world. Foolish 
men cavil and object when we speak of The Fall. But 
call it what you will, here surely is a terrible fall; a 
frightful degradation; a fall from God, from our original 
glory, and. into a black abyss of sin and corruption, so 
that "violence covers the earth " which w r as formed to be 
the abode of peace and love. 

The word Eeligion (re-ligio) means a binding us back 
to God, and thus to one another; and in every genuins 
revival of religion, one of the first fruits is the restoration 
of these severed bonds. In families, in communities, 
those who had been long embittered are then seen to em* 
ii9* 



208 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

brace each other. And thus it will be over the entire 
world, as the celestial influence of the religion of Jesus 
shall be diffused. It must be so; for the Gospel changes 
our nature ; quells the selfishness, the pride, the ambition, 
the lust of wealth and power, all the baleful passions in 
which war commences, and by which its evils are per- 
petuated. The doctrines, precepts, examples, spirit of 
the Gospel, — above all, its great central truth embodied 
in a Crucified Redeemer, are fraught with love, kindness, 
mutual forbearance, forgiveness, tenderness; they must, 
therefore, produce peace on earth and good will among 
men. Where Jesus is truly received, there can be no 
hostile rivalries, no cruelties, no injustice, no restless 
alienations, no jealousies, no hatreds. Nor in the hea- 
venly light of his teachings and example, can our minds 
be blunted to the hideous evils of war by the pomp, the 
parade, the decorations in which it dresses itself to impose 
upon our senses ; nor can our imaginations be dazzled 
by the false and pernicious splendor with which poets 
and orators have invested it. We shall learn that true 
greatness — the heroism of the humblest Christian who 
lives, suffers, dies for truth — as far transcends the renown 
of the warrior, as the heavens are high above the earth. 
We will feel that man's true glory is in religion, in vir- 
tue, in moral courage, in the subjection of his desires to 
the will of God, in energy of principle, in inward triumph 
over passion and prejudice, in humility, in patience, in 
doing good, in forgiving injuries, in serving God, in im- 
itating Jesns, in becoming the friend and benefactor of 
the poor, the wronged, the weak, the suffering, the op- 
pressed. 

I was right, then, when I affirmed that Eevelation and 
Eeason give one testimony as to the peaceful tendency of 
the Gospel. And had I time, I could easily show that 
Facts are in harmony with Eeason and Eevelation. Do 
not think to refute this assertion by a recital of the wars 
which have been waged between Christian nations, or of 
the hostilities which have lately raged in this land. To 
such an objection I might reply, that, compared with the 
atrocities of ancient warfare and with the ferocity which 
now consigns to torture and slavery and the most horrid 



A City or House Divided against Itself. 209 

death the wretched victims of barbarian triumph, — even 
the evils portrayed in the first part of this discourse are 
a sort of mercy. 

But this is not my answer. What I affirm is, that if 
nations still learn Avar and lift up the sword against na- 
tions, it is because they have only the form of godliness 
while they deny its power; and because those among 
their people who are truly Christ's violate their solemn 
vows and obligations. No nation has ever yet been 
brought under the vital influence of the religion of Jesus. 
But a nation is only an aggregate of individuals. And 
wherever an individual has been truly regenerated, and 
lives under the power of the Gospel, there you will find 
a mind, a conscience, a heart which revolt from war as a 
horrible thing ; there you have a man who detests war as 
war ; who will suffer imprisonment, poverty, the most 
shocking death, rather than engage in a war of conquest 
or ambition; and who in a war for freedom or self-de- 
fence (and such wars I admit are justifiable) will seek to 
mitigate human misery, and will long and pray for peace 
as an inestimable blessing. 

But it is time, for me to bring these remarks to a close. 
My beloved hearers, though in great weakness, yet out of 
a full heart I have addressed you to-day; and I be- 
seech you to ponder these truths to which you have lis- 
tened, whether they please you or not. 

I am aware that some of you will regard all I have 
been saying as the idle reverie of an enthusiast. To hope 
that the South and the North can ever be reconciled is> 
you tell me, the chimera of a mere dreamer, a romantic 
visionary. A dreamer ! a visionary ! So then, with all 
your professions, you are, it seems, infidels at heart. Is 
not the Gospel ' the wisdom of God and the power of God' 
— wisdom where all human expedients are foolishness — 
power over the powerful, power where all else is power- 
less? When some one opposed the cause of Missions, 
scouting the idea that preaching could be any match for 
the hardness and corruption of the heathen, Mr. Newton 
replied, " Sir, that which could convert me can convert 
anybody." And this is what I now say. That Gospel 
which could change me, which could change you, can. 



210 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

change anybody. If it can bring the carnal heart, which 
" is enmity itself against God" to love God, to delight in 
him, — never tell me there is anything too hard for it; 
never bid me despair that I shall yet close my dying eyes 
upon a nation re-united, upon States dwelling together 
in harmony, and under new auspices, with God's selectest 
blessing, setting out afresh to fulfill their high, glorious, 
and common destiny. 

After all, however, it is not so much of the hatreds be- 
tween the South and the North that I have spoken, as of 
the unhallowed passions which have so long been mar- 
ring the kindly charities of our social and domestic in- 
tercourse. Are these too strong for the Gospel ? Let me 
hope, now, when peace has come, that the spirit of peace 
will also come. At Talavera, after a day of furious con- 
flict, the French and English soldiers stacked their arms, 
and repairing to a stream which flowed between them, 
they passed their cups freely from one to another, with 
the common feelings of exhausted nature. Is there not 
" a fountain open for sin and all corruption/' to which, 
laying aside our animosities, we will come in the cool of 
the day, and open our hearts to better thoughts, to those 
sentiments which conscious weakness and misery ought 
to awaken in our bosoms ? 

Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the 
revolution attempted by our Southern brethren, all must 
allow this plea, — that they believed they were battling 
for their rights, for rights which were claimed by our 
forefathers when they threw off their allegiance to Eng- 
land. Bat there can be no excuse for us if we now fos- 
ter these antipathies and resentments. 

No matter how devoted had been our attachment to 
our whole country, (in me, love for that country was one 
of the strongest instincts of my earliest childhood, and it 
grew with my growth and strengthened with my strength) 
yet before this unnatural struggle had been fully inau- 
gurated, some of us saw encugii at the North, and at the 
South, to lead us io believe that all our cherished hopes 
for the perpetuity of the Union were doomed; — that the 
time had come when God meant to make of one people 
two nations, who should dwell side by side in comity 



A City or House Divided against Itself. 211 

and alliance. We now know that we were mistaken. — 
The dreadful arbitrament of battle has decided this great 
question. We stand to-day in the presence of facts which 
must be accepted as the decree of Heaven. And, now, if 
we love the South, let us seek "the things that make for 
peace/' The Southern States need repose. If honorable 
terms of reunion are proffered them, old memories will be 
freshened, and they will be won back to loyalty. Let 
no one of us by our conduct or language, cause suspicion 
to rest upon their sincerity, and thus arm their enemies 
with pretexts for stripping them of all their rights, and 
for keeping them under military subjection. Kest as- 
sured, the South craves, at this hour, not our bad pas- 
sions, but our generous sympathies, our fervent prayers, 
our firm and wise mediation. 

Let all who truly love the TJnion now bury past dis- 
sensions in oblivion. Eecollect that schemes for the 
dissolution of that Union have been cherished and may 
again be cherished in other quarters besides the South. 
Nor is there any security for it, but in the suppression 
of those selfish and malignant feelings, which subvert 
all true love for our institutions, and in opening our 
hearts to that true patriotism which, loving our country, 
embraces all who will be the friends of that country. 

Lastly, we are Christians ; and as such, especially in 
times like these which are now passing over us, we must 
feel the obligation resting upon us all to cultivate 
kindness, forbearance, mutual candor in the interpreta- 
tion of each other's conduct and motives, a charity which, 
"beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all 
things, endureth all things." 

When a part of the people of Israel were enslaved in 
Babylon, and amid the insults of their profane con- 
querors, who cried "Sing us one of the songs of Zion," 
there were, no doubt, many who instigated thoughts of 
hatred and revenge. But, by his prophet Jeremiah, God 
said to them, "Seek the peace of the city whither I have 
caused you to be carried away captives, and pray to the 
Lord for it." If such was their duty to a foreign land, 
is it not ours to the country of our birth and for which 



212 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

our fathers fought and died ? How can we so certainly 
promote the prosperity of the North, the South, the 
East, and the West, as by diffusing the power of that 
Gospel which is the only safeguard of our common 
rights and liberties ? How can we more surely please 
our Heavenly Father, than by nourishing among ourselves 
the temper of those who are " followers of him as dear 
children ?" How can we so nobly illustrate the religion 
of Jesus, as by shewing that it has power to achieve a 
victory which turns into contempt all the triumphs of 
warriors and heroes, a victory over ourselves, over our 
prejudices and passions ? 

My brethren, let us enter into these thoughts; let us 
collect them; and examining ourselves by them, let us 
see what are the sentiments of our hearts, — whether they 
are congenial with the Gospel — in unison with the Prince 
of Peace? If they are not, wo unto us ! Let us not be 
affecting any horror at the atrocities of war ; we are nour- 
ishing all these atrocities in our own bosoms. " Whoso- 
ever hateth his brother is a murderer." All the rage and 
cruelty which crimson the field of battle, we are, here, 
on this day of humiliation, in this sanctuary, secretly 
nurturing in our hearts, — thus wronging our souls, 
grieving the Holy Spirit, and, unless we repent, exposing 
ourselves to the wrath of God, now and forever. 

my brethren, my dearly beloved brethren, let not 
these things be. " 1 beseech you, as strangers and pil- 
grims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the 
soul." Let us imitate him who, " when he was reviled, 
reviled not again ; when he suffered, threatened not; but 
committed himself unto him that judgeth righteously." 
Let us hear that voice which, from the top of the cross, 
from the midst of the throne, is saying to us, " Love your 
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that 
hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, 
and persecute you. That ye may be the children of your 
Father who is in heaven." Let us go home resolving to 
cherish in our own hearts and to shed around us, in the 
church, in our families, in the community, the gentle 



A City or House Divided against Itself. 213 

spirit of peace and love. "Let all bitterness, and wrath, 
and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away 
from yoa, with all malice ; and be ye kind one to another, 
tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for 
Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." 



* Preached, June 1st, 1865, a Day of National Fasting, Humili- 
ation and Prayer. Published by request, at the time, and dedi- 
cated " To the Young Men's City Mission Society of the Seventh 
Baptist Church, by their affectionate brother and pastor." 




214 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



> ration Etorlftft, 



STRENGTH AS OUR DAY. 

"As thy day, so shall thy strength he."— Deuteronomy xxxiii: 25. 

THE future is all uncertain, but the past is ours, that 
is safe so far as we have improved it; and it is a 
noble faculty by which we can run our thoughts back- 
wards and gather wisdom from our experiences; even our 
failures, errors and sins teaching us useful lessons. 

"Let the dead past bury its dead;" but how little of 
the past can die. No, it is wisdom to " talk with our past 
hours," though they have been wasted; to review the 
periods of life which are gone ; gone irreparably, — for no 
effort can restore what we have lost by neglect ; gone ir- 
revocably, — for no power, not omnipotence itself, can 
overtake the stream that is bearing from us so many 
treasures of time, opportunity, advantages which have 
enriched others, but which we foolishly threw away. 

After all, however, we must not brood too sorrowfully 
over the past. Our great business is with the future, 
and to preparation for this, our text summons us. There 
is something very pathetic in the parting address of the 
Apostle at Miletus. "And now behold I go bound in 
the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that 
shall befall me there, save only that the Holy Ghost wil- 
nesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions 
abide me. But none of these things move me." Bound 
for the New Jerusalem, it is thus the Christian bids 
farewell to each year, each day ; not knowing what the 
future may bring forth; certain only of this, that temp- 



Strength as our Day. 215 

tations, conflicts, discouragements, reverses, afflictions, 
sickness, death await him. And if you ask how we may 
look into the future not only without dismay, but with 
calmness, with immovable assurance, the secret is in the 
passage just read; it is a firm habitual confidence in this 
promise, " Thy shoes shall be iron and brass ; and as thy 
day so shall thy strength be." 

I. Upon reading these words, the first truth they sug- 
gest and which they emphatically teach is, that we are 
utter weakness, and need supernatural succors every day 
to sustain us in the arduous life to which we are called 
as Christians. 

With this great truth you are all familiar, but you are 
not familiar with its greatness. It is one of those truths 
which are so readily conceded that they lose the force of 
truth ; and hence the frequency and earnestness with 
which the Holy Spirit repeats his admonitions upon this 
subject. 

As to the unregenerate, it is constantly declared that 
they are without spiritual ability or discernment; that 
blinded and weakened by the power of corruption, they 
can neither cancel past guilt nor extricate themselves 
from present depravity. "When we were yet without 
strength, in clue time Christ died for the ungodly." 

But the Christian is equally dependent. The difference 
between him and others is not that he has an outfit of 
strength in himself, but that he has renounced his own 
ability and " taken hold" of God's strength. It is thus 
that, by faith, " out of weakness he is made strong," and 
exclaims, "Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teach- 
eth my hands to war and my fingers to fight." As the 
branch cannot bear fruit in itself except it abide in the 
vine, so he can be fruitful only by abiding in Jesus. — 
His language is, "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in 
me." "In the Lord have I righteousness and strength." 
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthened 
me." 

And this dependence is as entire in little as it is in 
great things. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves 
to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of 



216 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

God." It is Mr. Newton who says that the grace of God 
is as necessary to create the right temper in a Christian, 
on the breaking of a China plate as on the death of an 
only son. In the routine of everyday business, in the 
trivial round of domestic life there may be an ordeal of 
faith and meekness and patience severer than that en- 
countered in more open conflicts with evil. It is, in fact, 
under his own roof, at his own fireside, removed from the 
checks and observations and motives of the world, that a 
man shews what he really is. Home is especially the 
sphere in which the true elements of female character 
come out. In the church, in the community, many a 
woman adorns the Gospel she professes, who yet has not 
learned " to shew piety at home ;" who in her family be- 
trays too much of Martha's temper, is somewhat irritable 
and querulous, wants the ornament of a meek and quiet 
spirit which "in the sight of God" (and of her husband, 
too) is " of great price." She is a mother in Israel at the 
Orphan Asylum, a paragon at the Dorcas Society, a mar- 
tyr at the Hospital, a saint at the prayer meeting; but 
at home — the broken china plate ! 

"My strength is made perfect in weakness." Conscious 
weakness is the condition upon which grace is vouch- 
safed us. "When I am w r eak, then am I strong." Proud 
self-confidence disarms the Christian ; his invincible locks 
are shorn off the moment he reposes on his own self-suf- 
ficiency. It is only when conscious impotence keeps him 
looking to Jesus, that he can run with patience the race 
set before him, and finds spiritual energy infused into his 
soul. " Without me ye can do nothing." Jesus does not 
say that without him we can do but little ; he says that 
we can do nothing without him, we are perfectly helpless. 
Without his aid the enemies of our souls will be too much 
for us. It was to his own chosen apostles that Jesus 
said, "Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation." 
And, for my part, the more I study the biographies of 
holy men, and reflect upon the deserted bowers of Eden, 
and the vacant thrones and shattered harps of heaven, 
the more do I shudder at the terrible power of tempta- 
tion. But what then? Do the Scriptures give any coun- 
tenance to the pretext of the wicked, who plead their 



Strength as our Day. 217 

weakness as an excuse for sin ? Not at all. They assure 
us that " God is faithful who will not suffer us to be 
tempted above that we are able to bear, but will, with the 
temptation, also make a way to escape, that we may be 
able to bear it." They point us to him who whispers to 
his servant when entering his trials, "Satan hath desired 
to have thee that he may sift thee as wheat, but I have 
prayed for thee that thy faith fail not." The admonition 
always is, that we are feeble, but that we have an almighty 
ally who was in all points tempted as we are, and who is 
"able to succor them that are tempted." 

If the Christian needs the Saviour's aid in temptation, 
he is equally dependent in the day of adversity and afflic- 
tion. It is only by the grace of God that he can be what 
he ought then to be, that he can bow meekly before the 
Chastener and reap the peaceable fruits of righteousness. 
..The wax may be melted again and again, unless the sig- 
net be stamped upon it, there will be no image left. And 
so the heart may be softened by affliction after affliction, 
but unless God engrave truth upon it, all will soon be 
cold, hard,impressionlessas ever. We will not only lose the 
object taken from us, but we will suffer a far sorer be- 
reavement ; we will lose the affliction. Brethren, we can 
do without many things which we think necessary, but 
we cannot afford to do without chastisement. I have 
been for twenty years familiar with death-beds, and 
I have heard the dying lament many things which the 
living covet. I have heard them deplore the influence of 
prosperity, the seductions of worldly friendships, and the 
snares of wealth, ambition, pleasure; but never have I 
heard a dying man regret one thing which we all dread — 
that thing is affliction. We cannot dispense with afflic- 
tion, Paul must have a thorn in the flesh. Some of us 
must have a thorn in the spirit. God must call for a 
cloud to darken many of our days. Sometimes when the 
child of God is saying, "I shall die in my nest," his hea- 
venly Father must send a storm to lay him and his nest 
low in the dust. And if left to ourselves, we will mur- 
mur, we will faint under these rebukes. It is only when 
Christ's grace is vouchsafed, that either-Paul or we can 



218 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

abide the ordeal with unshaken faith, with exulting, 
soul-enriching confidence. 

And these remarks apply to every trial of our loyalty 
and love, to every pressure upon the heart, every season 
of despondency and depression. To the holiest there will 
come periods of dejection. It may be an evil heart, or 
domestic sorrow, or poverty, or physical derangement, or 

a diseased imagination, or spiritual darkness, or in 

short, each heart knoweth its own bitterness. There are 
times when every Christian exclaims with the Psalmist, 
"0 my God, my soul is cast down within me." Now, to 
yield to this temper would be a most unworthy weakness; 
it would relax all our spiritual energies ; it would dis- 
honor Jesus ; it would cause the wicked to triumph. — 
"As with a sword in my bones," says David, "mine ene- 
mies reproach me, while they say daily unto me, Where 
is thy God ?" But abandoned to his own resources, the 
strongest will find his heart and strength fail. It is easy 
to tell him, that he ought to rise above this infirmity. — 
He will answer with Job, " I also could speak as ye do, 
if your soul were in my soul's stead." 

No arguments, no expostulations will avail anything 
with this gloom upon his spirits. A man must go out of 
himself, he must repair to God, in whom are all his 
springs of light and strength. "Unto thee, my strength 
will 1 sing, for God is my defence and the God of my 
mercy." "From the ends of the earth will 1 cry unto 
thee, when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock 
that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for 
me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 1 will abide in 
thy tabernacle forever. I will trust in the covert of thy 
wings." 

I have been speaking of a Christian's experience under 
present trials ; his sorest conflict, however, is often with 
his anticipations of the future. And to these fears the 
text especially addresses itself; its assurances are pros- 
pective. "Thy shoes shall be iron and brass, and as thy 
day so shall thy strength be." 

In opening this discourse, I alluded to the faculty by 
which we can send our thoughts back into the past; but 
God has bestowed upon man a still nobler power, and one 



Strength as oar Day. 219 

which more clearly attests his immortality; he "looks 
before " as well as " after." Brutes live only in the pre- 
sent, man connects himself with the past and with the 
time to come. This communion with the future is a pow- 
erful stimulus to noble exertions; it animates us to re- 
linquish ephemeral gratifications, that we may secure per- 
manent good ; it inspires* us to forget the things that are 
behind and to press toward the mark for the prize of our 
high calling ; to welcome toil, sacrifices, reproach, perse- 
cution, that we may receive the crown of righteousness; 
and amidst the thickest night it cheers us with that hope 
which "still travels on nor leaves us till we die." 

But while this faculty, by which we mingle ourselves 
with the future, is thus useful, it is often the source of 
great anxiety and distress. When fortifying our souls 
against fear, the Apostle assures us that " things to come 
are ours." When enumerating the foes which threaten 
to separate us from the love of God, he speaks with em- 
phasis of " things to come ;" and with reason. For Fear 
is the wildest and most creative of all the passions, and 
what spectres can she not conjure up to haunt the ob- 
scurity before us. Through her baneful influence the 
future seems all shrouded in funereal drapery ; and sad 
misgivings, gloomy presentiments of impending evil agi- 
tate and appal the soul. Under these ominous sinkings 
of the inmost heart, we are really more helpless than when 
pressed by any incumbent, and therefore definite, mea- 
surable calamity. Head in the Book of Job that account 
of the spirit which passed before Eliphaz. " Fear came 
upon me and trembling which made all my bones to shake. 
Then a spirit passed before my face ; the hair of my flesh 
stood up ; it stood still but I could not discern the form 
thereof." Never was anything more sublime; and it is 
its indistinctness that lends such terror to this mysterious 
being. Where we cannot see, imagination has full scope; 
and her portentous bodings fill the mind with awe and 
dismay so much worse than any real anguish, by how 
much the uncertain, shadowy infinite is more powerful in 
mastering the reason than a peril which is known, cer- 
tain, and palpable. It was the vague prospect of persecu- 
tion and suffering which broke down the courage even of 



220 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

Elijah, who had braved Ahab to his face. It was the ag- 
ony looming up before him which convulsed the soul of 
the Eedeemer with strong crying and tears, causing him 
to exclaim, "0 my Father, if it be possible let this cup 
pass from me." And it is when dark and undefined an- 
ticipations cast their black shadows over our hearts, that 
strength and fortitude melt away, and we need those es- 
pecial succors which can come only from God. "I was 
troubled on every side; without were fightings, within 
were fears. Nevertheless God that comforteth them that 
are cast down comforteth us." Jesus himself appeared 
to John in his desolate island, but he was not recognized. 
"When I saw him I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid 
his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not." And 
thus it is with us. The future approaches with its min- 
istries of love and wisdom; but we know not its mission, 
and our hearts sink down in terror, till a heavenly hand 
touches us and a heavenly voice dissipates our fears. 

II. "We are weak and constantly require divine support. 
This is the first truth taught by the text. Let us now 
pass to the second reflection suggested by the passage. 
I refer to God's economy as to the supply of needed 
strength. 

Abundant are the treasures of grace in Christ Jesus; 
and in all ages the pious have looked directly to God for 
strength. " God is our refuge and strength, a very present 
help in trouble." "In the day when I cried, thou an- 
sweredst me, and strengthei:edst me with strength in my 
soul." "Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he will 
sustain thee." "Call upon me in the day of trouble, I 
will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me." Eich are 
the provisions of heavenly succor; — so munificent, in- 
deed, that the Gospel is compared to a royal banquet. — 
But in the allowance imparted to us, God consults his 
own wisdom and not our wishes. I have just now spoken 
of our proneness to forestall the future. This propensity 
is seen every day in temporal matters, in the universal 
desire to accumulate. It is not confined, however, to the 
affairs of the world. In spiritual things also we are anx- 
ious to lay in store for future emergencies, to amass 



Strength as our Day. 221 

strength against the day of trial. This would be our 
plan; but it is not God's method, he sees fit to hold us 
to a very different economy. 

Even in the support of our bodies, we are required to 
recognize God's immediate interposition. " Thou openest 
thy hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." 
He has but to shut his hand and all life would at once 
perish ; food would not nourish us ; air and water would 
become leprous elements of death. "Give us this day 
our daily bread," such is the petition we are to offer ; 
and not as a form, but with the imploring earnestness 
of suppliant pensioners on the sovereign power of hea- 
ven. The rich man may say, "I do not want;" but 
amidst the mutability of all earthly fortunes, who dare 
affirm that he shall always be superior to want. One 
man alone I hear exclaiming, " I shall not want;" and 
who is this ? it is David. And upon what does he base 
this confidence ? upon his royal revenues ? Not at all. 
It is upon the ever wakeful providence of God. " The 
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." 

In replenishing our spiritual necessities God is, if pos- 
sible, even more rigorous. It pleased the Father that all 
fullness should dwell in Christ, not in us ; and he will 
vouchsafe no supply until we renounce all hope from our- 
selves, and acknowledge that all our resources are in him. 
Paul entreats again and again that the thorn which stung 
him may be removed." So, says the Saviour, that cannot 
be. I have planted that thorn there for thy good. But, 
Lord, it is the messenger of Satan which is buffeting me. 
No matter, I often use Satan's messengers to do my er- 
rands. The thorn I will not remove, but I will do for 
you something much better ; "my grace is sufficient for 
you." Give me strength, says the Christian, that I may 
be equipped for future assaults, exposures, afflictions, or- 
deals. No, God replies, but I will confer a greater bless- 
ing. "As thy day so shall thy strength be." 

Mr. Cecil, when just setting out in the ministry, re- 
ceived from his dying mother an answer which he never 
forgot, and which cheered and sustained him in many a 
dark hour. Standing by her pillow, just before she ex- 
pired, he said, " Do you not tremble at the thought of 



222 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

entering an unknown world ? How do you know what 
you shall meet there ?" " It is no matter/' she answered, 
" what I shall meet there. He hath said, 'When thou 
passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and when 
thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned ; 
I will strengthen thee, I will uphold thee' — that is 
enough." 

Christian, you must learn this lesson. It is no matter 
what trials, conflicts, sorrows you may have to encounter 
— God has promised strength proportionate to your day. 
That is enough. 

Before this audience, I need not stop to prove that 
every page of the Bible confirms what 1 have said as to 
the economy under which we are placed. And we have 
another testimony. This assertion is abundantly attested 
by all Christians. Every man's life is to him the most 
interesting biography; and every child of God has, in his 
own history, the verification of the truth I am affirming. 
You, my beloved brethren — I appeal to each of you. — 
Eeview the past. Eecall the seasons when the Lord was 
your strength and your shield ; when you were brought 
low and he helped you. As you look back upon your 
sorrows, distresses, temptations, fears, does not each of 
you exclaim, with adoring gratitude, " Hitherto hath the 
Lord helped me." " Having obtained help of God I con- 
tinue until this time." "Unless the Lord had been my 
help, my soul had dwelt in silence." "I will sing aloud 
of thy power and of thy mercy; for thou hast been my 
defence and refuge in the day of trouble." " Because 
thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy 
wings will I rejoice." 

And this has been the experience of all who have put 
their trust in God; they have all carried in themselves 
the record of their own helplessness and of his interposi- 
tion in their extremities. The spirits of just men of all 
ages and countries now made perfect; and the cloud of 
witnesses now compassing us about, — those who once 
trod these courts and filled these seats, the former mem- 
bers and pillars of this church whose beloved forms are 



Strength as our Day. 223 



sleeping around these walls* — there was not one of these 
who did not feel himself to be a bruised reed and smok- 
ing flax, not one who did not set up Ebenezer after Eben- 
ezer all the way from his spiritual cradle to his grave, 
not one who did not again and again exclaim, " If the 
Lord had not been on my side, then had the waters cov- 
ered me, then had the streams gone over my head." "I 
cried unto the Lord in my distress, and he delivered me." 
"I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall con- 
tinually be in my mouth, my soul shall make her boast 
in the Lord, the humble shall hear thereof and be glad. 
magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name 
together. I sought the Lord and he heard me and deliv- 
ered me from all my fears." 

Yes, this is God's method. He observes a rich but 
settled economy ; he gives us strength for our day, but 
he gives us no more. And in this dispensation, as in all 
his dealings with us, there is the wisdom and love of a 
Father who is consulting our highest profit, our truest 
happiness. He thus keeps us humble and prayerful; he 
thus educates us to live by faith; he thus constantly 
freshens our love and gratitude, and teaches us that he 
is a very present help in time of trouble. It is when cry- 
ing, Lord, save, or I perish," that Peter feels the ever- 
lasting arms around him. It is when almost in despair 
under the consciousness of corruption, that Paul breaks 
out into that shout of victory, "I thank God through Je- 
sus Christ." 

Yes, God thus exercises the most wholesome discipline 
over our characters, making them vigorous and athletic. 
And he does more. He thus establishes permanent joy 
and peace in our souls. Brethren, a whining, puling, 
moping, croaking religion is a poor recommendation of 
the Gospel. The best thing God can do with all spiritual 
hypocondriacs is to kill them and take them to heaven at 
once. And none are so prone to this temper as those who 
live upon emotions, frames and excitements. Give me 



* This sermon was preached, January, 1860, on a visit to Beau- 
fort, S. C, the author's birthplace, and in the church where he 
had been pastor at the commencement of his ministry. 
iilO 



224 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

the Christian who hourly lives upon God ; not even up- 
on God's gifts, but upon God himself. Our feelings are 
like the waves which dance and sparkle, but are ever 
fluctuating, changing, and when the breeze subsides are 
wholly gone. God's truth and faithfulness " are a great 
deep." They resemble the ocean itself; always there — 
vast, fathomless, sublime, the same in its majesty, its in- 
exhaustible fullness, yesterday, to-day and forever ; the 
same in calm and in storm, by day and by night ; change- 
less while generations come and pass ; everlasting while 
ages are rolling away. 

III. You see, then, our helplessness and God's econo- 
my in the adjustment of needed succors. Let us now 
look for a moment more directly at the promise in our 
text. We ought all often to ponder this assurance, and 
to live more upon the strength and consolation it can 
impart. For there is in our hearts I know not what 
lurking unbelief in God's faithfulness. Nothing can be 
more touching than God's complaint of this want of con- 
fidence. "Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, earth, and 
break forth into singing, mountains ; for the Lord hath 
comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his af- 
flicted. But Zion said, the Lord hath forsaken me, and 
my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her 
sucking child that she should not have compassion on 
the son of her womb ? Yea, they may forget, yet will I 
not forget thee. Behold I have engraven thee upon the 
palms of my hands ; thy walls are continually before 
me." Let us guard against a temper which thus dishon- 
ors God. Let us understand our religion, and learn the 
sacred logic of that glorious hope which thus argues : 
" If when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by 
the death of his Son, much more being reconciled we 
shall be saved by his life ;" " He that spared not his own 
Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not 
with him also freely give us all things ?" "In fierce 
storms," said an old seaman, " we can do but one thing, 
there is only one way ; we must put the ship in a certain 
position and keep her there." This, Christian, is what 
you must do. Sometimes, like Paul, you can see neither 



Strength as our Day. 225 

sun nor stars, and no small tempest lies on you ; and then 
you can do but one thing, there is only one way. Eeason 
cannot help you ; past experiences give you no light ; 
even prayer fetches no consolation. Only a single course 
is left. You must put your soul in one position and keep 
it there. You must stay upon the Lord; and, come what 
may — winds, waves, cross seas, thunder, lightning, frown- 
ing rocks, roaring breakers — no matter what, you must 
lash yourself to the helm, and hold fast your confidence 
in God's faithfulness, his covenant engagement, his ever- 
lasting love in Christ Jesus. 

Looking at the promise as recorded in the passage be- 
fore us, we must all feel at once that it assures the Chris- 
tian of his perseverance. A man who flies in his dream 
will find that he only dreamed about flying, and so those 
who flatter themselves with the doctrine of the saints' 
perseverance, while they live in worldliness and indolence, 
will one day deplore an infatuation equalled only by their 
guilt. A child of God perseveres, will persevere in a life 
of obedience. If his enduring to the end depended upon 
his own strength, he might well despair ; but the same 
grace which called him continues to urge him onwards 
and upwards. We read of the martyrs, and are filled 
with admiration of the faith which sustained them on 
the scaffold and amid the flames. In my poor judgment, 
however, the power of that faith is more illustriously dis- 
played in the protracted life-struggle of every faithful 
Christian, in his afflictions, persecutions, solitary wrest- 
lings, frailties, tears, discouragements, temptations, in 
the austere conflicts and triumphs — not of a few moments 
after which the axe and fire terminate the strife, — but of 
long years, and amid things which wear and waste the 
spirit more than years. Well is it for us that God does 
not put the stock of grace into our hands, for we should 
soon be broken merchants. He takes the salvation of 
his people into his own hands. And in his keeping, all 
is forever safe ; he not only confers the succors needed 
for the present-, but he pledges himself to protect us 
against all which can ultimately ruin us. " My sheep 
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; 
and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never 



226 Richard Fuller's SeYmons. 

perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.' 
" I the Lord will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, 
Fear not, I will help thee." "And as thy day so shall 
thy strength be." 

The promise in the text assures the Christian of hea- 
venly guidance. " He led them forth by the right way, 
that they might go to a city of habitation." Instead of 
leading his people from Egypt directly to the promised 
land, God commanded them to turn aside, and go through 
the wilderness of Paran. They often had to retrace their 
steps. Their way was circuitous, intricate, over regions 
of drought and barrenness, and through nations who in- 
cessantly assailed them with deadly hostility. Yet this 
was "the right way;" and during all the journey that 
august banner of fire and cloud hung over them, to guide 
their feet and animate their courage. And thus it is 
now with the child of God. The way in which he is led 
often seems strange, is often dark, inscrutable, and thro' 
stern conflicts. "Lead me in a plain path because of 
mine enemies." "Lead me in thy truth and teach me, 
for thou art the God of my salvation." "0 send out thy 
light and thy truth, let them lead me." " Thou hast de- 
livered my soul from death, wilt thou not deliver my 
feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light 
of the living ?" Such is his prayer, nor is it in vain. 

But God's way is not our way. The blind are brought 
by a way they knew not, in paths they had not known. 
" I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which 
thou shalt go, I will guide thee with mine eye." "What 
I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereaf- 
ter" And then, then, when we review the dealings of 
God, — while all shall together magnify the riches of 
grace and mercy, — each will find in his own experience 
a peculiar theme for everlasting gratitude, admiration, 
adoration as — no tear dimming his eye — no cloud obscur- 
ing the retrospect — he shall remember all the way the 
Lord his God led him, and shall see in his whole life 
the history of folly, perfidy, perverseness constantly ar- 
rested and controlled by ever wakeful wisdom, faithful- 
ness and love. 



Strength as our Day. 227 

The promise before us contains a third assurance, it 
assures the Christian that he shall be invigorated for ev- 
ery duty. Brethren, life is passing, youth goes, strength 
decays. But duty performed, work done for God, this 
abides forever, this alone is imperishable. Let us remem- 
ber this and let the thought arm us for every sacrifice. — 
Here is this difference between the service of Christ and 
of sin. At a distance the latter cheats us with promises 
most fair and seductive, only to shed guilt into our con- 
sciences and bitterness into our souls. God permits his 
precepts to seem grievous and formidable in the prospect, 
that he may thus try our sincerity and faith; but in keep- 
ing them there is great reward. 

Through what an ordeal was Abraham called to pass. 
What seemingly unanswerable pleas might he not have 
brought from nature, from religion, from his jealousy for 
the character of God among the surrounding nations. — 
But he staggered not. He gave glory to Jehovah by a 
faith which drew upon him for strength to meet the fear- 
ful hour. Nor can language describe, nor thought con- 
ceive his transports as lie descended from the mountain. 

God will never be outdone by any of us. Let us only 
have confidence in him, and we shall be strengthened 
with might according to his glorious power. Who is 
sufficient for these things ? " My grace is sufficient for 
thee." "All men forsook me; notwithstanding the Lord 
stood by me, and strengthened me." "'lean do all things 
through Christ which strengthened me." 

Faith, mighty Faith the promise eyes 

And looks to that alone ; 
Laughs at impossibilities 

And says, It shall be clone. 

Other thoughts crowd upon me, for the more I exam- 
ine the text the more exceeding great and precious I find 
it, the more inexhaustible its exuberance; but it is unne- 
cessary for me to say more. There it is; there the pro- 
mise stands; its foundation deep in the faithfulness 
and wisdom of Jehovah, its summit bright with beams 
from the " excellent glory." There it is. Gather around, 
my brethren, survey it on every side; contemplate itg 



228 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

height and depth and length and breadth. It is itself 
the preacher, this morning, and it speaks more eloquent- 
ly than man or angel. It is not I, it is not any mortal 
who can utter words to dispel all your fears and cause 
you to feel the rocky strength of that ground upon which 
your hopes of salvation are built. It is Jesus, it is the 
Everlasting Jehovah himself, who speaks to you. A few 
plain words he breathes into your souls, but what words; 
what an antidote to every fear, what a refuge in every 
trouble, what comfort in every affliction, what victory 
over every temptation. Whether the wave be over us, 
or be coming, here is a rock to which we may climb and 
be safe. Strength ; God's strength ; and God's strength 
for every day, for all our days. Strength ; not inherent 
in us, but strength imparted to us. Strength in health, 
to resist its perils ; and strength in sickness, to lie meek- 
ly in the hands of unerring Wisdom and unchanging 
Love. Strength in prosperity, to withstand its seduc- 
tions ; and strength in adversity to rise superior to its 
dangers. Strength for the young Christian; strength 
for the Christian bearing the burden and heat of the day ; 
and strength for the old Christian in the maturity of 
faith, rich in experiences and heaven-taught knowledges. 
Strength, when the passions would allure us; when the 
cares of business would engross us ; when our infirmities 
would oppress us. Strength while life lasts, and strength 
in the final fearful struggle. Such is the promise. — 
Amidst all, through all, God's presence and power and 
guardianship shall be ours. Amidst all, through all, "as 
our day so shall our strength be." 

My brethren, my beloved brethren, what a promise 
this. I feel as if I only impaired its glory by my feeble 
eulogium. No commentary, no human, no seraphic ut- 
terances would add anything to these simple brief words. 
They have in all ages inspired the souls of the children 
of God. While the world lasts, they will infuse courage 
into those who are fighting the good fight of faith. And 
to-day they speak to us ; speak of power to do all, of 
intrepidity to brave all, of patience to suffer all, of 
fortitude to sacrifice all, of faith to conquer all. They 
tell us that our own strength and all our hopes from it 



Strength as our Day. 229 

will be " as the grass upon the housetops, which wither- 
eth before it groweth up, wherewith the mower filleth 
not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom." 
And they say, " Trust ye in the Lord forever ; for in the 
Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. " They that 
trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot 
be moved." " Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob 
for his help." " Fear not, he is with thee, be not dis- 
mayed, he is thy God. He will strengthen thee, yea he 
will help thee ; yea he will uphold thee with the right 
hand of his righteousness. When thou passeth through 
the waters, he will be with thee ; and through the rivers 
they shall not overflow thee ; when thou walkest through 
the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the 
flames kindle upon thee." 

But I must draw this discourse to a conclusion, nor 
can I do more than select a fruit or two out of the rich 
harvest of practical wisdom to be reaped from our sub- 
ject. 

If you have listened to me, you must certainly feel the 
folly of that temper to which we are all prone, and 
which is ever lamenting the degeneracy of modern piety 
as compared with the faith of ancient saints and mar- 
tyrs. 

It is this spirit which Solomon rebukes in that admon- 
ition ; " Say not thou, What is the cause that the for- 
mer days were better than these ? for thou dost not in- 
quire wisely concerning this." You cannot too carefully 
study, nor too ardently admire the undaunted heroism 
which once welcomed the axe and stake and scaffold. 
We should habitually inflame our zeal by the examples 
of those whose lives and deaths furnish such an argu- 
ment for the truth of the Gospel, and such an illustra- 
tion of its spirit. " Be not slothful but followers of 
them who through faith and patience inherit the prom- 
ises." 

When, however, you explore the history of these tro- 
phies of grace, for the purpose of contrasting their sacri- 
fices and triumphs with the present type of piety, and 
infer that should the emergency arise, there would not 
be found the same spirit of undaunted loyalty, — why 



230 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

then you take up the whole thing amiss, you forget the 
entire policy of the Holy Spirit. That noble army was 
composed of men weak and tempted as we are, and of 
like passions. If they conquered, it was because they 
were "strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ." 
If the hour of conflict were at hand, if persecution 
should again ravage the church, the same grace would 
inspire the same indomitable faith and courage. And, 
0, I do think it would be worth all it would cost, worth 
all the temporal loss and pain, the enduring of affliction 
and the spoiling of our goods, once more to witness what 
* hath been witnessed by men and angels upon this earth 
and among its fallen population; — once more to behold 
the power of God breaking forth on the right hand and 
on the left; once more to view riches and honors cheer- 
fully immolated, and precious blood poured forth like 
water for Jesus ; once more to look upon strong men and 
delicate women standing side by side confronting danger 
and death with triumphant allegiance ; once again to be 
stirred by the shout of the king in our midst, causing 
him that is feeble to be as David, and the house of 
David to be as God, as the angel of the Lord. 

Another lesson. See in our subject the true antidote 
to that spiritual depression which -sometimes weighs 
upon the hearts of the strongest and holiest. There 
have been many prescriptions for dejection ; but the 
Psalmist discovered only one remedy, and that a spe- 
cific; — it is a firm confidence in God. Not in his past 
experiences, nor in his present conscious piety, nor in 
his resolutions for the future, but in God, in God's un- 
changeable perfections could he find consolations. 
" Why art thou cast down, my soul, and why art thou 
disquieted within me ? Hope thou in God." When 
spars and masts have been bent and shivered like reeds, 
when the rent canvas is strewing the tempest, and the 
laboring bark is driving headlong upon an iron-bound 
coast, there is but one resource. The anchor must leave 
the ship and grasp the solid earth. And in spiritual 
storms, when the heart is overwhelmed and ready to 
despair, hope is " the anchor of the soul sure and stead- 
fast " which must lay hold upon the Rock of Ages. We 



Strength as our Day. 231 

are prone to think that in some other sphere of duty, in 
other circumstances, we could be more cheerful and hap- 
py. We must correct this error; we can be happy only 
when conforming ourselves to the will of God in the 
sphere we occupy, and when fixing our trust upon him. 
If earthly sorrows or religious despondency press upon 
us, let us " cast our burden upon the Lord and he will 
sustain us." " Cast all your care upon him for he careth 
for you." ? If he seems to be angry with us and strikes 
us, let us fly to him, let us draw near to him. The closer 
we get the more will the blow be broken. 

The truths to which you have listened teach us one 
other and most important lesson. They reprove and 
ought to quell the nervous spirit which is always antici- 
pating evil. The cloud is coming; it may pass ; but 
whether it passes or not, what folly to project a conduct- 
or and thus attract the bolt sleeping in its folds. 

" Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow." When 
Jesus had finished the Sermon containing these words, 
the people, we are informed, " were astonished at his 
doctrine ;" and with reason. For " the prudent man 
foresee th the evil andturneth aside;" and we are sent to 
the ant, to learn that wisdom which forecasteth and pro- 
videth against the future. It is not of a wise precaution, 
but of restless, boding, corroding anxieties that Jesus 
speaks. We ought to banish these from our minds, 
committing all our ways unto the Lord, saying " Hold 
thou me up, and I shall be safe." 

These distressing solicitudes are sinful, they doubt the 
divine presence and interference. And they are even 
more foolish than criminal. "Be careful for nothing 
but in everything by prayer and supplication with 
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto 
God ; and the peace of God which passeth understand- 
ing shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus 
Christ." On the other hand unbelief fills the imagina- 
tion with apprehensions as irrational as they are painful. 
For, either the evil dreaded will come, or it will not. 
If it come, we are assured of grace sufficient for us, of 
strength as our day. If it does not overtake us, we have 
ii 10* 



232 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

been distressing ourselves wantonly and unnecessarily. 
In either case we deprive ourselves of present peace and 
happiness. This I have often observed, that whatever 
God sends us — sickness, poverty, affliction, death — is 
sure to bring with it a frame and temper adjusted to the 
emergency; " the morrow takes thought for itself." But 
as there is no promise of support for those troubles 
which we bring upon ourselves, which we call up to tor- 
ment us before our time, so there can be no adaptation, 
physical, moral, or spiritual, to meet them. 

for a simple, child-like unwavering faith in God's 
promises ; a faith tolerant of all things — of all disappoint- 
ment, sacrifice, suffering, as it reposes calmly upon Jesus. 
" All will soon be well," I said to a dying woman, who 
had endured and was enduring extreme pain. All will 
soon be well?" she replied, "All is well, all is well." 
for a faith like that ; a faith which looks serenely 
up and exclaims, All is well ; All is well ; AH is well. 
"I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor 
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things 
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor " 
(lest some poor trembling child of God, bowing his head 
like a bulrush, should invent some danger not included 
in this catalogue) " nor any other creature, shall be abla 
to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ 
Jesus our Lord." 

My brethren, let us busy ourselves only with the pres- 
ent hour. This alone is ours. 

Know'st thou Yesterday, its aim and reason ? 

Work'st thou well To-day for worthy things ? 
Calmly wait the Morrow's hidden season 

Need'st not fear what hap so e'er it brings. 

In heaven neither past nor future can disturb the joy 
of the redeemed, because God is all in all. And if .we 
with sincerity utter that petition, " Thy will be done on 
earth as it is done in heaven," God will be all in all to 
us ; past, present, future will have no power to trouble 



Strength as our Day. 233 

our celestial peace and joy. Let us faithfully discharge 
our present duty; clear decided activity in that is 
man's only happiness. To-morrow will bring its own 
duties, and strength for those duties. Let us, with faith 
and meekness, bear our present trials and sorrows ; con- 
fiding all that may come to him who hath said, " Suffi- 
cient unto the day is the evil thereof/' "My grace is 
sufficient for you ;" committing all the future, without 
one anxious thought, one lurking fear, to his care, who 
each day accurately measures out to his children the 
afflictions and tears which are needed, and as accurately 
measures out strength for each day. 

Let us rejoice that all our times — times of sickness 
and health — of poverty and wealth — of temptation and 
triumph — of prosperity and adversity — of grief and 
gladness — of life and death — that all are in the hands 
of such Compassion, Tenderness, unerring, unchanging, 
almighty Love. The billow looks dark and frowning 
as it comes on ; but be not dismayed ; when it breaks 
it will sparkle and shine all over with the love of God. 
" All these things are against me ;" unbelieving and un- 
worthy was that thought in the patriarch. Still more 
faithless and dishonoring to Jesus is it in you. Banish 
it forever ; and knoiv although you cannot see the hidden 
harmony, that all things will work, all things must 
work, all things are working together for your real good. 
Have faith in God. The question is one not of strength, 
but of faith. Some things may now be sad and inscru- 
table as the grave, yet have faith in God who will one 
day bid an angel roll the stone away. " Hast thou not 
known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, 
the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth 
not neither is weary? there is no searching of his under- 
standing. He giveth power to the faint ; and to them 
that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the 
youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men 
shall utterly fall; but they that wait upon the Lord 
shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up with 
wings as eagles ; they shall run and not be weary, and 
they shall walk and not faint." 



234 . 



Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



" Now may the God of all grace, who hath called us 
unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have 
suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, 
settle you. To him be glory and dominion forever and 
ever. Amek - ." 




The Gospel Stifled by Goveiousness. 235 



Srvmou Sftfrtrrotfi. 



THE GOSPEL STIFLED BY 
COVETOUSNESS. 

'-And the deceitf ulness of riches choke the word and he he cometh 
unfruitful."— Matt, xiii : 22. 

THE interpretation of this parable teaches us a truth 
which lies deep in the philosophy of our nature. We 
see here that the prosperity of a sermon depends far more 
on the ear of him who hears it than on the tongue of him 
who utters it; that when you come and sit in this house 
your profiting is suspended less upon what the preacher 
brings than upon what you bring; and that in the mat- 
ter of listening to the Gospel, as well as with reference 
to charity, " it is more blessed to give than to receive." 
Hence the admonition which Luke records as the practi- 
cal lesson of this parable, " Take heed therefore how ye 
hear ; for whosoever hath to him shall be given ; and 
whosoever hath not from him shall be taken even that 
which he seemeth to have." He who comes to the truth 
with a sincere, teachable disposition shall receive in- 
struction. " If any man will do (is willing to do) he 
shall know." But the converse is equally certain. If a 
man is not willing to do, he shall not know ; he hath not 
the heart to receive the truth in the love of it ; and 
therefore he is given up to believe falsehoods, and the 
light which seemed to be in him becomes darkness. 

Parables convey truth, not directly but circuitously, 
through the imagination; and in this parable of the 



236 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

Sower, Jesus teaches us why, when the Gospel is preached, 
no impressions are made, or it' made, why they are un- 
productive. I find among the Jewish doctors a classifi- 
cation of those who hear the words of wisdom somewhat 
similar to that before us. They, too, divide the listen- 
ers into four kinds, one of which I fear would take in 
some of this audience ; I mean those who are compared to 
a seive, which lets through all the fine flour, and retains 
only the bran and dirt. In accounting for the failure 
of the truth, Jesus declares that it cannot be imputed to 
God. This supposition would be impious. No. God 
" would have ail men to be saved and come to the know- 
ledge of the truth." Nor is there any weakness in the 
truth itself, which "is able to make us wise unto salva- 
tion through faith which is in Jesus Christ." The un- 
fruitfulness of the truth is owing entirely to our own 
hearts, which Jesus compares to different sorts of soil. 

On a former occasion, two of these kinds of ground 
passed under our review ; the hard, beaten pavement on 
the highway ; and the thin superficial layer of mold 
spread upon a rock. 

We are now dealing with the field infested by thorns, 
which gives more promise than either of the other two. 
For, after all, ra;ik, green weeds present a more encour- 
aging spectacle than utter barrenness; and a deep, rich 
soil, overgrown with brambles, needing only careful hus- 
bandry and extirpation, is far more hopeful than a mere 
upper coating of earth with an impenetrable barrier un- 
derneath it so that the roots cannot supply nourishment 
and the hasty vegetation withers quickly away. And 
this is true as to the classes of hearers who are com- 
pared to these different kinds of ground. In the first 
class the word of God produces no effect. In the second 
there are only transient feelings. The hearers now be- 
fore us not only receive the word, but retain it, and have 
the appearance of spiritual vitality; but, alas, all the 
promise they give comes to nothing, miscarries. They 
bring forth no fruit, at least, " no fruit to perfection ." 
And the causes of this unproductiveness are given us by 
Him who well knows what is in the human heart. The 
reason of failure is in ourselves ; in the lusts and pas- 
sions which Jesus compares to thorns and weeds, the 



The Gospel Stifled by Covetousness. 237 

natural growth of the field, which choke the fertility of 
the good seed, overshadow it, keep off the sun and de- 
prive it of the room and nutriment it requires. To- 
night we are to examine one of these disastrous influ- 
ences — "the deceitfulness of riches." Give me your 
attention ; for either I am mistaken, or all of us need, 
some admonition as to this danger. 

I. Now you can hardly reflect upon the image which 
the Saviour here employs as to covetousness, without 
being reminded of a passage in Paul's first epistle to 
Timothy which seems to have been suggested by this 
parable of the sower. Jesus compares the love of money 
to the noxious seeds and roots of cockles — a word, by 
the way, which is derived from the Anglo-Saxon ceocan, 
to choke. The apostle says that " the love of money is 
the root of all evil ;" — a most vicious, pestiferous weed 
which, striking down into the soil, springs up into such 
a growth that every obscene bird lodges and roosts in its 
branches; and which is so prolific of all sorts of un- 
worthy, debasing fruits, that the term ?niser, which 
means a wretch, has been relieved of all other service, 
and assigned exclusively to the duty of holding up this 
vice to universal and everlasting infamy. 

Walking out into a fine, free, generous field, and see- 
ing it overgrown with thistles and brambles, we natural- 
ly ask, Why is this ? what enemy hath done this ? how 
came these baneful weeds here ? But nobody can solve 
the problem. The oldest proprietor declares it was 
always so in his day, and that his ancestors told him it 
had been always so in their day. Left to itself — nay 
without diligent care and cultivation, and the importa- 
tion of foreign seed — the field had never produced a 
single grain of wheat or corn, but always thistles and 
briars. Nor is this true only of one field, but of all 
fields. So fearful a crisis is sin, that when man fell, in- 
animate nature felt the wound. God said, " Cursed be 
the ground; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth." 
And it is mournful to think that, when the Creator 
stooped to the earth, it had no diadem for him but a 
crown of thorns. 



238 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

Well, now, in this behold a faithful emblem of the 
human heart. People are blind who do not see that its 
native propensities are all selfish — the love of power, of 
distinction, of sensual gratification, of money. But 
there is this difference, that, while each of the different 
weeds in the soil must have its own root, coyetousness is 
a principle of such baleful fecundity that there is not a 
single depraved passion which may not spring from it. 

Sometimes, indeed, this lust is a pure, unmixed " love 
of money " — an affection terminating on money itself. 
"Ephraim is glued (such is the original) to his idols." 
The mind and heart of the wretched victim of avarice 
are glued to his idol. He worships Mammon. A vile, 
degrading passion — constant always to the dirt, to filthy 
lucre — reigns and rules in all his soul. His love, his 
life, his hope, his joy, his all is gold. 

I believe, however, at least I would hope, that this 
ignoble, palpable idolatry is not very common. Gener- 
ally, money is sought for some ulterior object. Some- 
times for the gratification of a most contemptible vanity. 
"All this is mine. I am the possessor of so much. 
Wealth will procure me a reputation." Incredible as it 
may seem, men have been known, men formed in God's 
image, men before whom the Gospel unfolds all the 
stupendous realities of eternity — who have been absorbed 
by a desire to die rich. It will be fame ; the only fame 
such base souls can hope for. 

" That loudest laugh of hell, the pride of dying rich." 

Or, it may be ambition. We say that " knowledge is 
power;" but the proverb is far more true when applied 
to riches; for what miracles can they not work. "A 
feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry ; but 
money answereth all things." (Ecclesiastes x : 19.) 
Money is the cosmetic which gives beauty for deformity ; 
the charm which converts the idiot into a genius; it is 
birth, blood, learning, refinement. Nay, let the most 
dissolute wretch have money, and it will be received as 
an equivalent for virtue. Not only will the multitude 
of his debaucheries be covered, but he will command 
respect and authority ; and rank, beauty, purity will be 



The Gospel Stifled by Covetousness. 239 

ready to contaminate themselves by an alliance with 
him. 

The desire for wealth is often stimulated by that 
vivid, almost delirious strife for social precedence, which 
will always be waged in a country like ours, where the 
very equality to which all pretend causes the most rest- 
less impatience of equality, the incessant corrosions of 
rivalry. In other lands where the factitious distinctions 
of birth check all thought of equality, the multitudes 
yield to those who occupy a position entirely beyond 
their reach an homage which is a part of their patriot- 
ism, and acquiesce with pleasure in the visible, artificial 
magnificence they enjoy. But in this country of equali- 
ty, everybody is eagerly striving to be superior to some 
other body ; to mount higher than his ancestors ; to 
efface his own obscurity and elevate his posterity. As 
there are no privileges or immunities established by law, 
every man and woman is seeking to secure some by 
wealth. And elegant mansions, splendid entertainments, 
costly furniture, chairs, tables, sofas, looking glasses, 
fine equipages, tawdry liveries — these are the contriv- 
ances to rival superiors, to surpass equals, to dazzle in- 
feriors ; these are the titles of nobility ; these are the 
passports to high and fashionable society ; these are the 
credentials, the heraldry of American aristocracy ; before 
which learning, integrity, virtue, genius, piety hide their 
diminished heads. 

In short, as wheat and corn grow with one upright 
stem, while briars and brambles run along the ground 
in all sorts of fantastic forms, so covetousness, always 
crawling on the dust, takes on sometimes the strangest, 
most capricious modifications. Eich men may be found 
laboring for a competency. They have more than 
enough now for all their wants; but they may want 
more at some future day; and by a competency they 
mean so much as shall make it certain they will always 
have a good deal more than they need. A still more 
deplorable type of this grovelling lust is, that dread of 
poverty which sometimes seizes upon men of affluence, 
causing them to deny themselves even the necessaries of 
life, to gripe the poor, to grind the faces of those who 



240 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

work for them, to become such miserable preys to anxiety 
and apprehension, that the street beggar would pity 
them if he knew their wretchedness. And as this fear 
is vague and indistinct, imagination has full scope, 
"terrors make them afraid on every side," haunting 
them like a ghost, and tormenting them like a fiend. 

And, now, as Jesus declares that this depraved lust 
chokes the word, we may apply that truth to Paul's re- 
mark, and say that it chokes all the fruit which the 
word of God would bring forth. In the vegetable world 
the most poisonous weed exhausts itself in bearing one 
evil fruit; but in moral vegetation, so exuberant is the 
depraved soil of the carnal heart, and such the inherent 
power of sin to propagate and multiply itself, that a 
solitary root — at least this one root — is prolific of every 
kind of mischief. It is " the root of all evil ;" and 
chokes and strangles all good. 

It chokes the soul ; starving it'here; damning it here- 
after. 

It chokes the ministry. Stinted in food, even lions be- 
come craven. Straitened, embarrassed, painfully reminded 
by the meanness of those for whose souls he watches, of 
the dependence of himself and his family, noble must 
be the spirit of the pastor who is still bold and faithful 
as he ought to be. Too often the preacher is cowed, and 
unconsciously becomes a time-server, who never ventures 
to strike at the errors and sins of those who dole him 
out his scanty subsistence, but studies texts and topics 
which will flatter them. If evangelical truth is distaste- 
ful to them, he avoids such doctrines, and dwells on the 
morality of the Gospel — studiously shunning such terms 
as justification, sanctification, election, imputation. If 
he addresses Antinomians, he will trim to suit them. 
Not a word now about the duties of religion. Every 
discourse enlarges on the covenants, the atonement, im- 
puted righteousness, grace, election. If the wealthy in 
his audience are sinfully conforming to the world, he 
never alludes to those Scriptures which denounce this 
iniquity, but expatiates on the harmlessness of innocent 
amusements, and the necessity of recommending religion 
by taking from it all gloom and narrowness. Above all 



The Gospel Stifled by Oovetousness. 241 

— though when conversing confidentially with a friend, 
he will be most pointed in censuring the sordid covetous- 
ness of some in the church of which he has the over- 
sight, let him mount the pulpit when these members 
are before him, and he quails and is guilty of a perfidi- 
ousness most criminal and dishonorable. He exhibits 
his zeal in denouncing vehemently the vices of the poor 
— dishonesty, meanness, intemperance; but he is dumb 
as to that crime which Jesus and the apostles con- 
demned so earnestly, so constantly, as one of the worst 
and most fatal abominations. 

This pestilent vice chokes the discipline of a church. 
If a communicant be overtaken once in some fault ; if 
surprised by the suddenness, or seduced bytheinsidious- 
ness, or overcome by the strength of temptation, he is 
guilty of one act of intemperance, or theft, or licentious- 
ness, instantly the rules of the church demand that he 
be dealt with as a criminal. His own good, we declare, 
and the honor of Christ's cause require this. But one 
may be a good Christian, nay, may be a faithful deacon, 
who is a bye-word for avarice, who is all his life steeped 
to the lips in a vice which God classes with the most 
heinous offences. " Be not deceived, neither fornicators, 
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers 
of themselves with mankind, iior thieves, nor covetous" 
(see the company in which this professed disciple of 
Christ stands) " nor drunkards, nor revellers, nor extor- 
tioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such 
were some of you ; but ye are washed, ye are sanctified, 
ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the 
Spirit of our God." Here the apostle declares that, 
where the soul is regenerated, these sins are abhorred 
and renounced. Our churches are severely orthodox as 
to all of them except covetousness. They have unani- 
mously resolved that this sin is quite consistent with 
holiness and salvation. 

Covetousnsss chokes all the spirituality of a church, 
is a mildew under which its life withers. It so secular- 
izes the members that, instead of deadness to the world, 
they outstrip the votaries of Mammon in their intense 
eagerness for accumulation, in that spirit of which God 



242 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

declares that, " he who maketh haste to be rich shall not 
be innocent." Their treasures are upon the earth, and 
their hearts are here also. They who profess to set 
their affections on things above live under the curse 
pronounced against the serpent, "Upon thy belly shalt 
thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy 
life." They who have solemnly abjured the world, and 
dedicated themselves to heaven, become most melancholy 
exemplifications of this admonition — "They that will 
be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many 
foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruc- 
tion and perdition." 

In short, this vile lust — spreading its envenomed rami- 
fications through all the departments of evangelical 
enterprise — sending up its blighting shoots in all the 
fields of Christian benevolence — chokes every noble un- 
dertaking. The cause of missions, of the Bible, of the 
Sabbath school, of every blessed charity, feels the over- 
shadowing, stifling, suffocating presence and power of 
this baleful weed, whose roots are imbedded in the deep- 
est, rankest depravities of our nature. 

Up to this point I have been speaking of covetousness, 
and Luke mentions the love of riches as the source of all 
evil. But in our text Matthew records a phrase which 
gives additional significansy to this part of the parable. 
He says, " the deceitf illness of riches chokes the word." 

This interpretation is very full of meaning. It teaches 
us that Jesus is not alluding at all to the fatal curse of 
riches which have been obtained by dishonest means. — 
Such wealth can deceive nobody; not others, for at the 
tribunal of public opinion the man who has thus amassed 
a fortune is doomed to perpetual infamy; nor the man 
himself, for conscience explores all his secret windings 
and shiftings, his duplicity and perfidy, and forces him 
to feel his baseness and villany. The Saviour refers to 
wealth obtained or pursued honestly, and to the unsearch- 
able artifices by which a man is enslaved and debased 
through its influence, without being at all sensible of his 
bondage and degradation. 

We have a striking illustration of this " deceitfulness 
of riches" in the young man who came to Jesus, and on 



The Gospel Stifled by Covetousness. 243 

his knees, asked, " What shall I do, that I may inherit 
eternal life ?" So amiable was his character, that " Jesus, 
beholding him, loved him." So unconscious was he of 
the lust which had dominion in his heart and held him 
bound hand and foot, that he asserted his innocence from 
his youth up, and confidently demanded what it was he 
lacked? But no sooner did the Searcher of hearts touch 
this hidden vice than "he went away sorrowful." Un- 
derneath an exterior so charming, and while he thought 
himself perfect before God, there was a soul enthralled by 
this grovelling passion. It was this case which caused 
Jesus to utter that startling exclamation, " How hardly 
shall they who have riches enter into the kingdom of 
God." 

Let me illustrate the " deceitfulness of riches " in an- 
other way, and by examining the apostle's declaration, 
that " Covetousness is idolatry." Idolatry is the adora- 
tion of a false God. Suppose, now, that one of our fellow 
citizens should erect a public temple, and build an altar 
to Mammon, and should enter and bow the knee there 
once a day. The very supposition shocks us, nor would 
any Christian community tolerate such an outrage. Af- 
ter all, however, the chief element in idolatry, as in reli- 
gion, is the oblation of the heart. The exterior homage 
rendered by this man, like much of that offered to God, 
might be a mere formality. But in the world, nay, in 
the church, there are thousands whose hearts are temples 
in which gold and silver are enshrined ; who love these 
divinities, and worship them with all their mind and 
soul and strength. Yet these devout idolators never 
dream of their condition in the sight of God, and many 
of them profess to be Christians. The voluptuary and 
debauchee they abhor; but, after all, their reigning pas- 
sion is just as impious, and far more incurable. He who 
makes sensual pleasure his deity, offers to his idol only 
the worship of his senses — a worship which cools when 
his appetite is jaded. But in making money his god, a 
man renders up the homage of his mind ; and it is an 
homage which becomes more inveterate, more intense, 
more adoring as his possessions increase. Yet is he wholly 
unsuspicious of the fact. Nothing could convince him 



244 Richard Fuller's Bermonk 

that Baal or Moloch was not more really the god of a 
pagan, than Mammon is the god of his affections. 

Indeed, so strangely cozened, duped, cheated are we 
by the fascinations of wealth, that our vocabulary con- 
fesses its illusions, and is tributary to its usurpations. — 
In all our noble Anglo-Saxon language, there is scarcely 
a nobler word than worth ; yet this term has now almost 
exclusively a pecuniary meaning. So that if you ask what 
a man is worth, nobody ever thinks of telling you what 
he is, but what he has. The answer will never refer to 
his merits, his virtues, but always to his possessions. He 
is worth so much money. 

But look a little closer at this beguiling power of 
wealth, and observe how " after the working of Satan 
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness" it weaves a 
spell over those who surrender themselves to its unhal- 
lowed dominion. 

An impious independence of God and an insane confi- 
dence in riches is one very common type of this moral 
sorcery. "If I have made gold my hope, or have said to 
fine gold, Thou art my confidence; if I rejoiced because 
my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten 
much, if I beheld the sun when it shined or the moon 
walking in brightness, and my heart hath been secretly 
enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand; this also 
were an iniquity to be punished by the judge; for I 
should have denied the God that is above" In this pas- 
sage we have the remarkable announcement, that those 
who make gold their hope or trust, betray the same athe- 
istical perversity as those who worship the sun or the 
moon. Where, however, can we look without seeing this 
derangement among the multitudes who pursue or pos- 
sess wealth ? With minds framed to know God, with 
consciences which ought habitually to recognize him, 
and hearts which should render him supreme affection, 
they pass their lives in a practical renunciation of him in all 
their thoughts, affections, projects and desires. Yet they 
are so blinded and bewitched, that they recoil from athe- 
ism as from the worst form of wickedness and blasphemy. 



The Gospel Stifled by Covetoiisness. 215 

Another noticeable evidence of this jugglery practised 
by the magician who presides over riches, is found in the 
specious titles under which the love of money will insin- 
uate itself into men's hearts, even while they pretend to 
despise it. ISTo matter how it be arraigned, convicted, 
banished in its proper name, like a thief escaped from 
the penitentiary, or a felon come back from Botany Bay 
in some honest man's apparel, it makes its appearance 
under a new name, in a stolen wardrobe, and thus eludes 
detection, nay, passes for a virtue. 

Sometimes it is Industry. Does not God himself say, 
be " not slothful in business " ? And under this pretext 
all the powers of the soul are desecrated to the gratifica- 
tion of this fatal passion. Sometimes it is Obeying the 
voice of Providence. I find myself prospering in my bus- 
iness, and it would be ungrateful if I did not improve 
the flood in my affairs. Thus a heart bent on its lusts 
misinterprets all the dealings of God. A third guise is 
Economy. Waste and extravagance have ruined thou- 
sands; it is my duty to use that frugality which pru- 
dence dictates ; and with such a creed a man devotes his 
days and nights to the meanest penuriousness. But of 
all the counterfeits under which this vice masks and pa- 
rades itself, the most universal and plausible is Parental 
Duty. Xo one blames a father for seeking to make some 
provision by which his family may be spared the humil- 
iations and miseries of dependence ; but this is not the 
aim of those to whom I now refer. Not a competency, 
but wealth they are toiling to bequeath ; and this great 
solicitude is really nothing but the insatiable cravings 
of covetoiisness. It is love for money, not love for their 
childreu. If these children should themselves become 
possessed of vast fortunes, nay, if they should die, this 
absorbing eagerness would know no abatement. That 
these parents may really mistake their avarice for pa- 
rental affection, I do not doubt ; but it is only because 
they are the dupes of a passion which thus rivets upon 
them a tyranny most insidious and inexorable. 

And this suggests the only other evidence of the en- 
snaring potency of a covetous spirit which I can now 



246 Richard Fuller's Sermons-. 

indicate. I refer to the supremacy which it gradually 
usurps, and under which its victim is at last preyed upon 
by a hopeless infatuation. This is the danger which, in 
the parable of the rich fool, Jesus portrays with such a 
searching insight into the very depths of our nature, and 
with such graphic power. Neither there, nor anywhere 
did he condemn the possession of wealth ; for wealth 
sanctified is one of the means by which some Christians 
are more fruitful in good works than others, as we shall 
see when we come to the class of hearers who are com- 
pared to the "good ground." Abraham, who by his 
answer so stung Dives in hell, probably possessed in his 
lifetime, more wealth than he ; but his riches were not 
his "good things." As I have elsewhere remarked, the 
Saviour attributes the ruin of the rich man to the moral 
disease which concentrated all his thoughts upon a 
single object — the monomania which caused him to for- 
get his dignity and his destiny, which cashiering every 
sentiment of death, eternity, God — hurried him with 
restless avidity after illusions that mocked him in life, 
and plunged him into an abyss of misery after death. 
And here, before me in this audience, are more than one 
who might sit as the original to that portrait. 

I need not dwell longer upon the deceitfulness with 
which riches ensnare the souls of those who possess or 
pursue them. Nor if you have listened to me, can you 
help perceiving that the " unrighteous mammon " must 
choke the Gospel, rendering it abortive, though at first 
its reception seemed to be with faith and gave the most 
auspicious promise ; so that, instead of having its fruit 
unto holiness now, and the end everlasting life, the soul 
is cursed with sterility and is lost forever. 

" The deceitfulness of riches " leaves a man no leisure 
for eternal things. The cares, urgencies, perplexities of 
business press upon him morning, noon, and night. 
His very dreams are of his gains, losses, projects, in- 
vestments. Even in the closet, in the sanctuary, at the 
communion he is haunted by the omnipresent pre- 
dominance of these objects. And all his attention, all 
the energies of his body are exhausted upon the material- 
ism around him, just as if there were no God, no hereafter, 



The Gospel Stifled by Coveiousness. 247 

as if the world with its visible elements were all in all 
to him. 

" The deceitfulness of riches " leaves a man no 
thoughts for spiritual things. Like the field impreg- 
nated with the seeds of briars and brambles, his mind 
is entirely preoccupied. A supreme devotion to the 
world reigns within ; and so impossible is it to bring 
him off from his consuming desires, restless anxieties, 
brooding, apprehensions, and to fix his thoughts upon 
religion, that Jesus says, " It is easier for a camel to go 
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to 
enter into the kingdom of God." 

Lastly, and worst of all, "the deceitfulness of riches" 
leaves a man no heart for religion. The ground has 
room and nourishment enough either for the wheat or 
the thorns, but not enough for both ; and the thorns, 
being indigenous, grow with a rank luxuriance and 
stifle the wheat. So it is with our hearts. They have 
affections for earth or heaven ; but not enough to love 
both supremely. The infatuation of the covetous Chris- 
tian (if I may unite terms so diametrically opposed to 
each other) is that he supposes he can give his heart to 
Christ and to Mammon; but all observation and ex- 
perience repeat the declaration of the Saviour, who 
warns us that such an attempt will be fatal to the soul. 
Very soon wealth will stand between him and heaven. 
On the Sabbath, and in church his feelings may be oc- 
casionally drawn toward God ; but the habitual, sponta- 
neous bent of his affections, which alone furnishes any 
test of character, turns instinctively to his possessions. 
Looking up to the starry heavens, the Psalmist loses 
sight of that display of physical glory, as he contem- 
plates the amiable Being so dear to him, and he ex- 
claims, " How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, 
God." Then retiring to his couch, his meditations 
still dwell sweetly upon the adorable object who is the 
centre, and portion, and resting-place of his heart ; and 
his language is, " My soul shall be satisfied as with mar- 
row and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with 
joyful lips, when I remember thee upon my bed, and 
meditate on thee in the night watches." It is impossi- 



248 Richard Puller's SermonL 



ble to conceive any contrast more entire and absolute? 
than that which exists between a heart thus glowing 
with love to God, and a heart in which the love of mon- 
ey has cashiered all sense of God— his love, his presence, 
his glory; and which is no sooner relieved from the 
mockery of a tedious round of religious formalism, than 
it reverts to the sanctuaries where its wealth is invested, 
with an intenseness of homage surpassing that of the 
most devout Israelite who ever, from a foreign land, 
turned his longing eyes toward Jerusalem. 

My beloved hearers, I beseech you, by the love of God, 
I conjure you to quell the deceitful power of this grovel- 
ling passion. The Philistines are upon us, the enemies 
of our souls are pressing in from every side ; and shall 
we be overtaken in the lap of the enchantress ? How- 
ever bewitched hitherto, let us — at least those of us who 
are Christ's — break away from the spell of the sorcerer. 

The dervise in the Eastern legend readily abandoned 
to his companions the camels laden with gold and silver, 
when he had found the casket containing the magical 
ointment, one drop of which, if applied to his eyes, 
showed him where all the treasures of the earth were 
concealed. Let us to whom faith reveals the unsearch- 
able riches of Christ, all the glories of heaven, let us 
spurn as comparatively contemptible, the wealth for 
which the men of the world are losing their souls. 

As I have already intimated, the class of hearers here 
admonished by Jesus, finds a large representation in our 
churches. The depravities of the world develop them- 
selves in various gratifications which common consistency 
prohibits to those who call themselves the disciples of 
the Saviour; but avarice is a baptized, orthodox vice; 
and the selfish tendencies of professed Christians gener- 
ally concentrate in this indulgence. Like Aaron's rod, 
this passion swallows up all the other passions. 

In this, and in other parables, and by the most ex- 
pressive images and solemn warnings, God declares that 
" no covetous man hath any inheritance in the kingdom 
of Christ and of God." At best, if a Christian allows 
this vice to gain possession of his heart, he can be rescued 
only by the sharp discipline of affliction. " Every plant 



The Gospel Stifled by Covetousness. 249 



which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be 
rooted up." If we are " the planting of the Lord/' we 
must be fruitful; and if the graces of the Spirit are 
choked by moral weeds, there must come the pruning 
and weeding ; and for this the sharp steel must cut 
through, and cut up until all quivers and bleeds under 
its edge. Of this truth what a fearful exemplification 
we find in the history of Lot. Though "a righteous 
man," yet the love of unrighteous mammon insinuated 
itself into his heart. What follows? God allows ma- 
rauders to take him prisoner, and carry away all his 
fortune. Thus chastened, he is still uncorrected ; and 
fire and brimstone from heaven lay his possessions in 
ashes, driving him from his blazing home, a pauper, 
an exile and an outcast. Nor did the judgments of God 
cease there. The deceitfulness of riches had so cor- 
rupted the heart of his wife, that she looked back with 
longing eyes to the splendor she had left behind, and 
was stricken at his very side into a monument of divine 
vengeance. And while his married daughters perish in 
the flames, the two children who escape survive only to 
cover his gray hairs with shame and infamy, by the 
voluptuousness which wealth and luxury had nourished 
in them. What a melancholy history ! And it is not 
without its counterpart at this day. For covetousness 
God has still to smite and afflict his children so that 
they are saved as by fire ; and often they go down to the 
grave, bemoaning, in the profligacy of their sons, and 
the utter worldliness of their daughters, the curse of a 
lust which has settled like a plague spot upon their 
families. 

My God, is not this a portrait of my character and 
conduct ? Is not this love of money my secretly beset- 
ting sin ? Is my conversation without covetousness, so 
that I am satisfied with such things as I have? Is my 
diligence in business accompanied and pervaded by fer- 
vency in thy service ? Am I constantly mindful of thy 
charge, that I trust not in uncertain riches for my hap- 
piness, that I do good, and be rich in good works, that 
I be ready to distribute, willing to communicate — thus 
laying up in store for myself a good foundation, that I 



550 tlichard Puller* s Sermons ; 

may lay hold on eternal life ? Do I habitually regard 
myself as thy steward, and am I applying the deposits 
in my hands as under thine eye ? Am I living hourly 
in view of that day when thou wilt say to me, Give an 
account of thy stewardship ? Is my treasure in heaven ? 
And do I know this by the consciousness that my heart 
is there? 

ye that hear me this night, whoever ye may be, ex- 
amine yourselves by such questions as these honestly put 
to your consciences. Eest assured by this course you 
will best consult your highest interests. By stripping 
him of all his wealth the enemy of God vainly hoped to 
subvert the piety of Job. 

" But Satan now is wiser than before, 

And tempts by making rich, not making poor." 

Over and over God warns us of the unsearchably 
seductive power of riches to those who possess or pursue 
them. Hear his warnings before it is too late. Eecol- 
lect that the love of money is one of the most noxious, 
prolific growths which choke the Gospel ; and that the 
earth " which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and 
is nigh unto cursing ; whose end is to be burned." 

But your heavenly Father not only "seeks to guard 
you against the fatal love of earthly possessions ; he 
calls you to secure riches in heaven. Hear and obey his 
invitation. "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, that though he was rich, for your sakes he be- 
came poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." 

This wealth, purchased for you at such an amazing 
cost, is now offered to you. It will satisfy all the bound- 
less, immortal aspirations of your soul, enriching you 
with spiritual pleasures now, raising you hereafter to a 
sceptre, a crown, a throne. Come, then to Jesus ; and 
come now. Come just as you are, "wretched and miser- 
able and poor and naked," and receive from him " gold 
tried in the fire that you may be rich " — that you may 
be " rich toward God," — rich for eternity, rich in " an 
inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not 
away, reserved in heaven for you." 



Mortification of Sin. 251 



Sermon iFottttrentfi. 



MORTIFICATION OF SIN. 

"For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die; but if ye through the 
Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."— Rom. viii : 13. 

MY BRETHREN", we speak very loosely when we 
say that liberty is the glory of man. In a restricted, 
political sense this is true ; but in a large interpretation 
it is not liberty, it is healthful restraint which is our no- 
blest dignity and happiness. Or rather, there is no true 
freedom except in order, in subordination to wise govern- 
ment. Hence James styles the commandments of God, 
" the royal law of liberty;" the highest archangel know- 
ing and desiring no other liberty but that of perfect obe- 
dience to the will of God. 

Our Apostle has just declared that "the carnal mind 
is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of 
God, neither indeed can be, so that they who are in the 
flesh cannot please God." The proof, the essence of man's 
depravity is, that his heart is an outlaw, — that he has 
revolted against God's moral sovereignty, and set up his 
own appetites and passions which have usurped full con- 
trol over him. Hence disorder, sin, misery, ruin, death. 
To surrender ourselves to the supremacy j)f these corrupt 
propensities, is to kill all spiritual vitality out of us. — 
They must be unremittingly opposed and subdued. It 
is only by such an arduous and victorious conflict that 
the peace, strength, life of the soul can be secured. — 
"For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die, but if ye thro' 
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live," 



252 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

L In unfolding this passage, I desire first to call your 
attention to the great indispensable life-duty of every 
Christian, — the mortification of sin in himself. I say of 
every Christian ; for to expect an unrenewed man to mor- 
tify sin is simply preposterous, — that is to say, it is put- 
ting something before which must follow after ; and of 
this absurdity they are guilty who suppose that real holi- 
ness can precede conversion and faith in Christ. 

What, I hear you say, is holiness, then, not the duty of 
all ? Because his heart is not changed, is a man to give 
loose to his lusts and passions ? I will answer this ques- 
tion by another. When a disease is speeding its fatal 
poison through the system, is it our first duty to apply 
ourselves to one of its symptoms and seek to remove that ? 
If a fire were consuming your dwelling, would you set 
yourself to quench the sparks which were falling around 
you ? A morass is spreading pestilence through a dis- 
trict; shall the inhabitauts seek to disinfect the air? — 
Certainly the symptoms are to be abated, the sparks are 
to cease, the atmosphere must be purified ; but it must 
be by healing the malady, extinguishing the fire, drain- 
ing the morass. And just so as to impenitent men. It 
is their duty to be holy, to resist their evil passions, to 
mortify sin ; but this is not their immediate duty. Their 
first business is conversion. Their urgent, pressing work 
is to come to Jesus and receive life from him. " Then 
said they unto him, What shall we do that we might 
work the works of God ? Jesus answered and said unto 
them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him 
whom he hath sent." I would not inculcate an unscrip- 
tural orthodoxy. I remember that the prayers and alms 
of Cornelius went up for a memorial before God, and this 
brought him to the knowledge of Jesus. Unconverted 
men should pray and cultivate all their natural feelings 
of benevolence; but this is not holiness. 

" If ye througB the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the 
body;" — whom is the apostle addressing? Those to 
whom it is declared that " there is no condemnation," be- 
cause "they are in Christ Jesus;" (ver. 1,) so elsewhere: 
" If ye then be risen with Christ," " mortify your members 
which are upon the earth." To build a house by com- 



Mortification of Sin. 253 

mencing at the top and working down to the foundation 
would not be a more hopeless task than to mortify a sin- 
gle sin before we have come to Christ by faith in his 
atonement, and have been made partakers of his life by 
union with him as a risen, living Redeemer. 

It is, too, only " by the Spirit " that we can " mortify 
the deeds of the body." Those who hope to correct the 
moral disorders of our nature by human agency know 
nothing of mankind, nothing of themselves. And even 
in the use of means which God has appointed, without a 
special divine administration nothing ever is or can be 
accomplished for the transformation of the heart. As 
soon may we see without eyes or walk without feet, as 
subdue our corruptions without the co-operation of the 
Holy Spirit; but while a man is unconverted he is "al- 
ways resisting the Holy Ghost." Jesus declares that the 
most flagrant insult to the Spirit is our unbelief in him. 
" He shall glorify me." " He shall convince the world of 
sin because they believe not on me." To reject the Sa- 
viour, therefore, is to commit the grossest outrage against 
this divine Agent; and of this crime every unconverted 
man is habitually, wilfully and most defiantly guilty. 

You see, then, with what accuracy I applied the term 
" preposterous" to all systems which suppose that mortifi- 
cation can precede that faith in Jesus which the Gospel 
always prescribes as the first exigent duty of every man 
when awakened to a sense of sin. I now go farther and 
affirm that in these abortive efforts there is unspeakable 
danger. 

"Make the tree good and his fruit will be good ;" and 
as such a tree is pruned and cultivated, its harvest will 
be more abundant. But it is folly to hope that an "evil 
tree " has been improved because you have knocked off 
its sour fruit or rotten foliage ; they will certainly re- 
appear. And just so, afflictions, terrors of conscience, 
convictions, alarms or other motives may curb the parox- 
ysms of a besetting sin; but if the heart be not renewed, 
its corruptions will after a while, break out into a vio- 
lence only exasperated by restraint. Dark and desperate 
as were David's crimes, the fearful thing in them which 
filled him with terror was, that they betrayed the pollu- 



254 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

tion within. Hence his imploring cry, "Create in me a 
clean heart. God." But by directing a soul under con- 
viction to the work of mortifying a lust, you conceal from 
it the fatal source of the evil, you divert it from the in- 
stant duty of crying to God and casting itself upon the 
Kedeemer for entire renovation. The Gospel is an alter- 
ative ; it not only makes a man better than he was, it 
makes him other than he was ; and less than this cannot 
cure the malady. " When Ephraim saw his sickness and 
Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian 
and sent for king Jareb, yet could he not heal you, nor 
cure you of your wound." 

Where there has been no real change, prayers, reso- 
lutions, vows, partial reformations, religious observances 
often act as an opiate to the mind ; the consciousness of 
sincere desires and efforts produces an idea that our con- 
dition is greatly improved. In the absence of any true 
peace in believing, a most self-complacent tranquillity in- 
sinuates itself into the soul, and one of two deplorable re- 
sults follows. When in spite of these feelings and pro- 
fessions sin again triumphs — mocking to scorn the checks 
which for a while had quelled it— the man is utterly dis- 
couraged, he is tempted to regard all resistance as hope- 
less in his case, and to become reckless through despair. 
All these human restraints seem now only to give addi- 
tional power to his corruptions. The embankments 
thrown up to keep the water from the fields, now, that 
they have been overflown, keep the water in. " Sin taking 
occasion by the commandment, works in him all manner 
of concupiscence." The very law imposed upon his ap- 
petites now inflames them into a more intense and heated 
fermentation; and his history realizes the parable of the 
demoniac, into whose heart a temporary exorcism only 
caused the evil spirit to return with more malignant 
forces, and whose latter end was worse than the first. — 
Or, if he be not thus tempted to say, u There is no hope," 
a more fatal consequence follows. These spurious affec- 
tions and reformations inspire a false hope. Gradually 
he relapses into his evil ways, and manages to reconcile 
his religion with his sins. The exterior proprieties of 
piety he still observes, and at times he is moved and 



Mortification of Sin. 255 



melted into frames of the tenderest devotion ; but this de- 
ceitful sentimentalism serves only to deliver him up more 
irrevocably to destruction. For it is a fearful truth that 
without a principle of grace, without that firm, resolute 
purpose which the Holy Spirit only can nourish, warm 
and seemingly religious emotions have a very close affinity 
with effeminacy of character, with voluptuousness, with 
impurity itself. There is a delicious softness and mystery 
in the bosom, and tears and prayers are a luxury ; but all 
this is full of danger; never is the heart more enfeebled 
and disarmed, never is the mind more blinded, the imagi- 
nation more under the fascination of the passions. The 
cross is the emblem of the religion of Jesus, — an emblem, 
not of exquisite sensibilities soothed and charmed by ro- 
mantic devotions, but of that stern fidelity which alone 
can secure the approbation of God and of our own con- 
sciences. 

Other foundation for sanctification can no man lay than 
that is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Hence in seeking the 
holiness of their hearers ministers are not to inveigh 
against certain vices, but to preach Christ crucified, that 
so men may be drawn to the source of spiritual life and 
spiritual strength. The mortification of sin is the work 
of a Christian, of a live man. I do not under-estimate 
" the form of godliness;" it is the outer bark ; and as the 
rind is essential to the life of a tree, so we may rest as- 
sured there is no vital piety in the heart when the out- 
ward profession is refused. Bat there may be bark on a 
dead tree; and as all the bark in the world cannot make 
a rotten trunk flourish, so no sincerity and scrupulous- 
ness of outward devotion can ever produce a single " fruit 
unto holiness." 

Mortification can be j:he work only of a truly converted 
soul. I now remark that it is the indispensable work of 
every converted soul; for with whatever confidence you 
may say of any child of Adam, That man is a Christian; 
with equal confidence you can add, That Christian is a 
man. Who amongst us is so presumptuous as to measure 
his attainments with those of the apostle Paul ? Yet he 
declares that he could only be saved by the severe, suc- 
cessful discipline of his corrupt nature. " I keep under 
ii 11* 



256 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any 
means when I have preached to others, I myself should 
be a castaway." Yes, pressing hourly upon the holiest, 
there is still 

" The most difficult of tasks, to keep 
Heights which the soul is competent to gain." 

Clinging hourly to the holiest there is still a " body of 
death" from which we are only delivered by the death of 
the body. Cultivate the heart for years, then cease your toil 
and care, what follows ? So interwoven with the soul are the 
noxious roots — so scattered over it the tare seeds, that what 
seemed once the garden of the Lord, resembles the field 
of the slothful all grown over with thorns, and the face 
thereof covered with nettles. Upon the earth God has had 
but one son who could declare of temptation that it found 
nothing in him. In us, that is in our flesh, there abide 
carnal thoughts and dispositions which demand the hour- 
ly repetition of that warning, " Having these promises, 
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness 
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of 
the Lord." 

Nor do these sinful propensities only remain in us;, 
they are treacherous enemies ever seeking, by unsearch- 
able artifices, to throw off all control, and to win some 
conquest. " The flesh lusteth against the Spirit." " I 
see a law in my members warring against the law of my 
mind." Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and 
pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against 
the soul." 

II. You see, then, that the mortification of sin is the 
work only of a Christian, and that it is the indispensa- 
ble work of every Christian. I pass, now, to the motives 
by which that duty is enforced in our text; for the 
apostle declares, that it is nothing less than a matter 
of life and death to the soul. " If ye live after the flesh 
ye shall die, but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the 
deeds of the body ye shall live." 

Death ; death now to our spiritual life. Seductive 
and delicious as may be the pleasures of sin, let us re- 



Mortification of Sin. 257 

member they are fatal to all that is spiritual within us. 
Their influence is subtle and poisonous like that of the 
Southern malaria, which amidst the perfume of flowers, 
and wafted by cool, refreshing zephyrs after the heat of 
the day, breathes death into the system. 

Unmortified sinful propensities defeat the very pur- 
pose for which the new life is given us. Every evangeli- 
cal grace is a spiritual outfit to arm and invigorate us 
for the conquest of our corrupt inclinations. "The 
Spirit lusteth against the flesh" — wages a violent con- 
flict with our depraved passions. In yielding to sin we 
resist this gracious ally, and frustrate the very design of 
Him who, in conversion, called us with a holy calling. 

Unmortified thoughts and feelings assail the principle 
of spiritual life and blight its strength ; they are suicidal 
in their work. The word passio?i means suffering; and 
in every sinful indulgence the soul suffers, the power of 
corruption is increased, disease spreads through the 
senses, the mind, the conscience, the heart, the memory, 
the imagination ; and, of course, as the malady is dif- 
fused, spiritual health decays, all the graces wither and 
are "ready to die." To be saved the light that is in us 
must be obeyed, holy dispositions must be nourished, 
and our depraved inclinations must be subdued; but 
each unheeded remonstrance of conscience renders other 
remonstrances more feeble, until " the light that is in us 
becomes darkness ;" each resistance of a holy aspiration 
makes other resistances less painful ; each successful 
temptation secures an easier triumph for other tempta- 
tions. 

Unmortified sin destroys all life in our duties. When 
conscious that we are daily denying ourselves, curbing 
all the motions of sin in our members, repelling the 
first approaches of temptation, and living lives of faith 
and holiness, with what filial assurance do we cry, Abba 
Father, and pour out all our souls in prayer. If our 
heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward 
God, and whatsoever we ask we receive of him because 
we keep his commandments, and do those things that 
are pleasing in his sight." Then, too, with what energy, 
elasticity, delight do we engage in the service of the 



528 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

Eedeemer ; feeling that in life, in death, through eterni- 
ty we can know no nobler honor, can taste no diviner 
pleasure than to be the servants of a Being so loved and 
adored. " I will walk at liberty, for I seek thy precepts, 
I will delight myself in thy commandments which I 
have loved." A body hast thou prepared me, I delight 
to do thy will, God ; — these hands welcome thy tasks, 
these feet rejoice in thy paths. But no sooner does con- 
science accuse us of known sins, than we feel that prayer 
is a mockery; "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the 
Lord will not hear me." And all that joy of the Lord 
which is our strength, all the exhilaration of the con- 
flict, all hope of success begins at once to fail and to 
perish. 

I will only add that by ceasing to mortify our sins, we 
forfeit the peace of God which is to " keep our hearts 
and minds." And losing this peace, we have no evidence 
that we are the children of God; instead of sweet com- 
munion with him, there is trouble and unhappiness 
which unfit us for the Christian life. The apostle could 
exclaim, " I live," only when he could say, " I am cruci- 
fied with Christ." We do not live unless conscious of 
this crucifixion. Without this daily self-immolation 
Jesus withdraws from us, " he hides his face and we are 
troubled." Instead of spiritual life and prosperity, there 
is war in our souls ; and as in all intestine wars, so in 
this, there must be desolation and death, until the re- 
volt ceases and the rightful sovereignty be re-established. 

It is certain, then, that, unless sin be every day dying 
in us, the opposite principle — the new life will be every 
day languishing and dying. This, however, does not 
exhaust the solemn truth in our text. "If ye live after 
the flesh, ye shall die ;" — die eternally. I will not stop 
to notice objections and refinements drawn from the 
doctrine of election or perseverance ; these metaphysical 
abstractions can do no man nor woman any good here. 
I tell you from God that " if ye live after the flesh, 
ye shall die." 

It is directly after enumerating the " works of the flesh," 
that the apostle utters the solemn warning, " Of the 
which I tell you before, as I have also told! you in times 



Mortification of Sin-. 2§9 



past, that they which do such things shall not inherit 
the kingdom of God." And if in any doctrine you can 
find consolation while living in sin, you are turning the 
grace of God into licentiousness ; nor is there a more 
evident " token of perdition " than a heart thus aban- 
doned to its corruptions, and a mind thus given up " to 
strong delusion that it might believe a lie." 

My beloved friends, whatever may be your theological 
creed, never forget these truths; that if you live after 
the flesh you will die ; that between a life of itnmortified 
sin and the second death, there is the indissoluble con- 
nection of cause and effect; that without holiness no 
man shall see the Lord ; that into the heavenly city 
" there shall, in no wise, enter anything that defileth ;" 
that a man who passes into eternity with all his cor- 
ruptions upon him will have to take up that fearful 
wail, "Which way I fly is hell, myself am hell." Can 
there be, then, any condemnation to them that are in 
Christ Jesus ? Never, assuredly. But who are in 
Christ Jesus? They " who walk not after the flesh, but 
after the Spirit." Can a child of God perish ? Certain- 
ly not. But who is a child of God? "As many as are 
led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." If 
we love Jesus is it not because he first loved us, and is 
not his " an everlasting love?" All this is most incon- 
testable. But who is it that loves Jesus? "He that 
hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that 
loveth me." If I live after the flesh I do not love 
Christ, I insult and crucify him afresh, I dishonor his 
truth, and cause " his holy name to be blasphemed." 

Death, then, death present and eternal must be the 
consequence of a life of sinful indulgence. "The 
wages of sin are death." Look now at the other motive 
urged in the text ; — the life we secure by resisting the 
evil propensities of our nature. " If ye through the 
Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." 

I do not deem it necessary to explain at any length 
what is meant by mortification. I only say this, that it 
is upon the necks of our lusts we must rise to our true 
life. " They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh 
with the affections and lusts." To mortify our corrup- 



260 Richard Fuller's Sermofis. 

tions is to crucify them, — to reduce them by protracted, 
painful exhaustion. It is not to extirpate sin, so that 
the tempter can have nothing in us ; still less is it a 
mere outward reformation ; but it is the daily conquest 
of the inward vital power of sin, by the radical princi- 
ple of grace in the heart. This deadening of the body 
of sin is the mortification of the lusts of the flesh. 
And this is life. 

Life now ; for it is a law of our nature that every re- 
fusal to do wrong weakens the desire which prompted 
the wrong. In the philosophy of our being we must 
reap what we sow ; there is a self-propagating power in 
good as well as in evil. We cannot achieve a virtuous 
victory without gaining courage and strength for fresh 
victories. If when solicited by the passions, we stead- 
fastly resist, our corrupt dispositions, by frequent ex- 
perience of the fruitlessness of the attempts, will grad- 
ually languish, and the soul will rejoice in recruited 
spiritual vigor. " Kesist the Devil/'— do not parley 
with him, — " and he will flee from you." " He that 
loseth his life for my sake shall find it ;" that is, he who 
mortifies the earthly sensual life, shall find the real 
heavenly life. " If ye abide in me, and my words abide 
in you, ye shall have much fruit;" and "because I live, 
ye shall live also." The spiritually minded Christian 
has a proof of the Saviour's resurrection which others 
cannot understand. He is "risen with Christ;" risen 
from the death of sin ; risen to newness of life, to new 
power over his corruptions. He can say, " I know that 
my Eedeemer liveth," because he shares in the resurrec- 
tion life of him who " was delivered for our sins, and 
rose again for our justification." He is not only " quick- 
ened together with Christ," but is " raised up together 
and made to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." It 
is comparatively little to say of such a man, that he 
looks up from earth to heaven ; the fact being that he 
looks down habitually from heaven to earth. 

And such a life is, of course, the earnest and com- 
mencement of eternal life. " If ye by the Spirit do 
mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live;" live for- 
ever. a He that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit 



Mortification of Sin. 261 

reap life everlasting." After death this sentence goes 
forth irrevocably, " He that is unjust, let him be unjust 
still ; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still ; and he 
that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that 
is holy, let him be holy still." A life in which we mor- 
tify sin is the necessary preparation for heaven; it is the 
earnest of heaven; it is heaven itself; — heaven begun in 
the soul which, emancipated from the gross passions 
that had debased it, finds every sin trampled under foot 
to be a round of the celestial ladder, and feels that holi- 
ness is the fiery chariot in which it mounts victoriously 
up to God. 

III. There is time for me to urge but one more truth 
contained in the text. I refer to the assistance by which 
alone the mortification of sin can be achieved. " If ye 
by the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall 
live." And unless we are wholly blinded, this topic 
must be to us not only a subject of profound interest, 
but a source of unspeakable consolation. 

For we all know one thing ; we know that we have 
sinned; and that sin is in us a principle of baneful 
power and unsearchable deceitfulness. " If we say we 
have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in 
us." This, however, is a deception which none of you 
can practise on yourselves. "Xo sin!" but what does 
conscience say to this ? " ]No sin !" but what does the 
state of the world say to this ? bow can we account for 
the disorders all around us? "No sin!" What does 

the Bible say to this ? — what the law ? — the Gospel ? 

all the inspired doctrines, promises, warnings, entreaties ? 
above all, the amazing sacrifice of Calvary ? 

"We have sinned, and if the sense of our sins only 
wears out of the memory, instead of being washed out 
of the conscience, they will one day reappear, as if 
emerging from their concealments, and overwhelm us 
with shame and confusion. It is a truth as certain as it 
is terrible, that the mind can forget nothing. Drowning 
men have declared, that in a moment, in the twinkling 
of an eye, all their past history has flashed before them. 
And at the judgment, consciousness will be the "open 



262 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

book" in which each man shall be compelled to read the 
record of every action, word, thought, of his whole life. 
We may quiet ourselves by stifling our convictions; so 
much the worse for our inward corruptions " That 
which thou sowest is not quickened except it die." While 
we remember and lament our sins, they remain alone ; it 
is when they are hidden from our thoughts that they 
strike their roots deep into our hearts, and send up a 
prolific harvest to be reaped in eternity. We think that 
the fatal register has been effaced, .but it resembles those 
writings in sympathetic ink, which no sooner feel the 
fire than they come out in perfect accuracy and distinct- 
ness. 

"We have all sinned;" and how can we be delivered 
from sin? — from its guilt and its power? Compared 
with this question, all the researches of science and 
genius sink into absolute insignificance ; and the Gospel 
alone answers the question. The Gospel is good news, 
glad tidings of great joy, because it reveals that blood 
through which " we have redemption even the forgive- 
ness of our sins," and promises that grace by which we 
can triumph over all our criminal desires. I know, and 
it is important for us always to remember, that in the 
text, as in all the Bible, the Holy Spirit is vouchsafed 
only as an aid, and that we ourselves are to mortify our 
unworthy passions. "If ye through the Spirit do mor- 
tify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." But this 
supernatural succor is not less indispensable for all that. 
Because this mysterious agency is invisible and not 
subject to our control, we are apt to lose sight of our 
entire dependence upon it. Let us, however, never for- 
get that the atonement was not more necessary for our 
justification, than is the Holy Spirit for our sanctifica- 
tion. We daily need his heavenly radiance that we may 
be saved from delusions, may see things in their true 
lights ; and it is the Spirit alone who "helps our infirmi- 
ties," whether in prayer, or in withstanding and sub- 
duing the power of temptation. " He that soweth to 
the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption." In the 
husbandry of evil, everything, — soil, seed, sowing, reap- 
ing — is of the flesh. " He that soweth to the Spirit, 



Mortification of Sin. 263 



shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." In the work of 
holiness all is spiritual. There is a superinduced spirit- 
ual soil, and the seed is spiritual, and yainly would man 
sow, without the constant interposition of God in the 
whole process of vegetation, from the first germ to the 
final harvest of glory. 

The Spirit alone " convinces us of sin," opens the 
eyes of our understanding to see its secret power and 
infinite malignity. Unconverted men do not perceive, 
at least they do not condemn their bosom sins; but it is 
against these that a Christian chiefly prays and strives. 
For the Spirit teaches him that these hidden corruptions 
are the worms at the root and in the bud of every evan- 
gelical grace ; that in himself is the treasure-house out 
of which " a good man bringeth forth good things, and 
an evil man bringeth forth evil things ;" that out of the 
heart are the issues of life ; and that if the plague be 
nourished there, it only requires the presence of temp- 
tation to break out in " evil thoughts, murders, adulter- 
ies, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies," every 
abominable crime. 

And there is another class of sins the " exceeding sin- 
fulness " of which we never feel until the Spirit sets 
them in a clear light, and causes us to see them in their 
true colors. I refer to the lusts of the mind, — passions 
not gross and sensual, but spiritual ; — pride, prejudice, 
covetousness, envy, hatred, malice, vindictiveness. It is 
against these sins that the Psalmist cries to God in his 
imploring prayer not only for " a clean heart," but for 
" a right spirit;" and to these the apostle alludes when, 
interceding for the Thessalonians, he specifies the sancti- 
fication of the intellect as the first great element of holi- 
ness. " The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and 
I pray God your whole spirit, soul, and body may be 
presented blameless unto the coming of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ." No propensities of our depraved 
nature fortify the heart more hopelessly against the 
principles of the Gospel than these spiritual vices; they 
are "the carnal mind " which "is enmity against God," 
and as to which we must be " renewed in the spirit of 
our minds." But all this no man ever sees until the 



264 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

Holy Spirit dispels the darkness of his soul. Judging 
from their conduct, it is appalling to observe how, as to 
this class of sins, most professed Christians are entirely 
blinded by the God of this world. 

The Spirit alone engages us in the work of real mortifi- 
cation. I say, real mortification, because many evil 
passions may be restrained by the force of natural reso- 
lution. In their pursuit after wealth, honor, even sen- 
sual gratification, what a mastery do men obtain over 
some of the most urgent solicitations of the flesh ; but 
as it would be absurd to suppose that the body could 
enjoy health or even survive, if the vital principle were 
only in one arm or one foot, as true life in any member 
must be a portion of the life circulating through the 
whole system, — so it avails nothing that we set ourselves 
to correct one or two evil propensities, unless we seek to 
be " sanctified wholly/' We do not mortify any sin, 
unless we mortify all sin. If we are perfecting holiness 
in the fear of God, if we are truly crucifying the flesh 
with its lusts and affections, we will oppose, not some, 
but all of-our sinful inclinations. And this will only 
be when we are under the control of the Spirit of holi- 
ness. 

The Spirit not only enlists us in the work, but con- 
stantly stirs up " our pure minds," and recruits those 
graces which must be kept in active exercise, if our cor- 
rupt nature is to be subdued. Sin dies hard ; especially 
an easily besetting sin, an old inveterate habit of sin ; 
hence it must be "crucified," — must expire, not by one 
act of violence, but by a slow, protracted, daily dying. 
For this, however, we need " the renewing of the Holy 
Ghost ;" our inward man must be "rene wed day by day ;" 
our souls must be rallied and roused to ceaseless vig- 
ilance, prayer and activity. Moreover our conquests over 
our sins must be achieved, not by direct resistance, but 
by counteracting influences ; just as fire is extinguished, 
not by beating it, but by the application of an opposing 
element. We must " overcome evil with good." If a 
man be under the power of any lust or passion, let him 
not hope to do anything by struggling with it. By 
dwelling on his sin, brooding over his conscious guilt 



. Mortification of Sin. 265 

and degradation, praying, resolving against his depraved 
appetites, he keeps ever before his imagination an object 
which irritates his desires and binds its unhappy victim 
more helplessly even while it scourges him. If we would 
"cease to do evil," we must "learn to do well;" we must 
turn to other thoughts and affections which will divert 
and elevate our feelings. " Break off your sins by right- 
eousness." It is " through the knowledge of the Lord 
and Saviour Christ," that we escape " the pollutions of 
the world." It is when " beholding as in a glass the 
glory of the Lord," that we are " changed into the image 
of the Lord." Indeed the apostle intimates, that forbid- 
den passions have power over us, because we do not en- 
gage our hearts with views of God — his majesty, purity, 
love. "Awake to righteousness and sin not, for some 
have not the hnoivledge of God." But it is only by the 
Spirit's interposition that we can be brought and kept 
under these hallowing influences. " This I say, then, 
walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of 
the flesh." 

In a word, from first to last, our victory over sin must 
be through the power of the cross of Christ ; by this 
only the world is crucified unto us, and we are crucified 
to the world. "They overcame by the blood of the 
Lamb;" but it is the office of the Spirit to take of the 
things of Christ and shew them unto us. All Gospel gifts 
and graces are received from Jesus and must be com- 
municated by the Spirit. It was when one of the sera- 
phim laid upon the prophet's mouth a live coal taken 
from off the altar, that he heard a voice saying, "Thy in- 
iquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged;" and it is 
when the Spirit causes our hearts to burn within us, by 
touching them with glowing truths brought from the 
altar on Calvary, that we experience the power of a cru- 
cified Saviour to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from 
all unrighteousness. "God who knoweth the heart, bare 
them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit even as he 
did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, 
purifying their hearts by faith." Such is the ministry 
by which alone holiness can be wrought in any child of 
Adam. We can be washed thoroughly from our iniquity 



266 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

only in the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness; and 
faith in that fountain must be the fruit of the Spirit. — 
God who knows the deceitfulness and desperate wicked- 
ness of the heart, knows this; and, therefore, he gives 
the Holy Spirit that he may open our hearts to the sanc- 
tifying efficacy of the cTeath and resurrection and inter- 
cession of him who " was called Jesus, because he would 
save his people from their sins." 

I finish with the solemn admonition before uttered, 
that we have sinned, and must be saved from sin, or we 
are lost forever. And I ask each of you, What will you 
do to be saved ? Sin is upon us with its sentence and 
its corruption ; what will you do with it ? I have shown 
you this day what is good. I have set before you life 
and death. I have pointed you to the Lamb of God who 
taketh away the sin of the world." 
" There is no other name under heaven given among men 
whereby ye must be saved;" but with him is mercy and 
plenteous redemption. Oh, how that divine blood clean- 
seth us from all guilt. With what celestial energy does 
that sacred flame which Christ gives, search out and 
purify us from all our dross and tinandfilthiness. With- 
out the atonement, vain would be our prayers and tears 
and struggles against sin; they would be only the cries 
and lamentations and reformations of a convict under 
the irrevocable sentence of death. " He that believeth 
not is condemned already." "He that believeth not the 
Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on 
him." Without the Spirit the holiest man would fall and 
perish. Stung by remorse, you make the most solemn 
vows against your evil propensities, and, by dint of na- 
tural resolution, you seem to have clean escaped them. — 
Alas, my friend, you deceive yourself. You will find that 
you resemble a strong swimmer, who carried by the cur- 
rent out of a whirlpool, thinks himself safe; but soon dis- 
covers that it was only an eddy, and that just in propor- 
tion to the distance he had reached, is the increased 
force with which the returning flood plunges hirn back 
into the vortex. 

What will you do with your sin ? Settle this question, 
1 implore you, before it is too late. If you do nothing, 



Mortification of Sin. 267 

think what your sin will do with you, what it is now do- 
ing, what it will do in eternity. This to me is a solemn 
thought, that every human being may know certainly 
what will be his destiny after death. Perhaps we wish 
there were some doubt, some hope that somehow, without 
any effort or even consciousness on our part, w r e might be 
in a state of ultimate salvation. But there is none. Each 
for himself must choose — has actually chosen life or 
death, heaven or hell. My dear friend, make your choice 
and make it wisely. Make your calling and election sure. 
Do not neglect another moment the great salvation. Ac- 
cept the redemption through the blood of Christ, even 
the forgiveness of sins which is so freely offered you. — 
And then set yourself strenuously by the aid of the pro- 
mised Spirit to resist and subdue all the corruptions of 
your nature. 

Do this and it shall be well with you. You will then 
be sure that you are right in your hope and in your life. 
Hourly shall you receive out of Christ's fullness fresh 
accessions of light and strength. Each day you will ex- 
perience more and more of that secret ineffable peace 
which is vouchsafed to the soul after every victory over sin. 
Eest assured there is but one way for the Christian, and 
that is the straight and narrow way. 

It is God's way, and therefore, difficult or not, you must 
keep it ; for it is the only safe w r ay, the only way which 
leads to life eternal. But, in truth, it it is the only pleas- 
ant way. This we do not know because w T e will not en- 
ter this path, or will not persevere in it. When the peo- 
ple of Israel began to " eat of the old corn of the land," 
the manna ceased. And so, when a child of God begins 
to seek happiness in his former indulgences, in " his old 
sins," he grieves the Holy Spirit, and forfeits the heaven- 
ly consolations which once delighted his soul. The nar- 
row way, the way of holiness, not only leads to life, but it 
is life. Walking there, serene are our days, peaceful our 
nights, happy — high above the disorders and miseries of 
a wretched world — shall be our hourly communion with 
God; happy, — full of assurance, of calm and sacred tri- 
umph shall be our dying hour ; above all, what joy un- 
speakable and full of glory, when, having fought the good 



268 



Richard Puller's Sermons. 



fight, having finished our course, having kept the faith, 
we shall rise to our place among the crowned worship- 
pers who forever celebrate the triumphs of redeeming 
grace, saying, " Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon 
the throne, and unto the Lamb/' "IJnto him that loved 
us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and 
hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, 
to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." 

Brethren, dearly beloved brethren, think on these 
things. "We are debtors not to the flesh to live after the 
flesh, for if ye live after the flesh ye shall die ; but if ye 
through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye 
shall live." 




Fellowship in Christ's Sufferings. &6§ 



^rvmou iFifteentfu 



FELLOWSHIP in CHRIST'S 
SUFFERINGS. 

"The fellowship of his sufferings. "— Philippians iii : 10. 

A CHRISTIAN differs from all other men, the vir- 
£*- tuous as well as the vicious, in this — that he is "a 
man in Christ;" and rest assured nothing can sustain us 
in the trying hour but the sense of this union. We may 
make a sincere profession, may read and pray devoutly, 
and devoutly attend all the appointed means of grace; 
but there will come sooner or later the season of darkness 
and depression, the affliction that smites and shatters our 
existence, the experience of misplaced or cruelly requited 
affections — the shock in business or health — and then no 
services, no faith in a written volume — nothing but a 
realizing consciousness of life in Jesus can support and 
console us. 

Here in fact is the great blessedness of faith. We all 
know that love is the superlative Christian grace. Faith, 
however, has this pre-eminence over love ; it not only 
precedes it — for love presupposes faith, — but it makes us 
one with Christ. Love establishes a moral union with 
Jesus; faith, a spiritual and mystical affinity which the 
Holy Spirit compares to a marriage, and by which he is 
identified with us, and we are identified with him. 

That Christ bore our sins in his own body on the tree; 
that his righteousness is ours — the obedience of his hu- 
manity being regarded as our obedience; that we are 



270 Itichard Fuller's Sermons. 

partakers of his name, of his wisdom, of his death, resur- 
rection, and glory (for he says, " The glory which thou 
gavest me I have given them ;") — if the Bible does not 
teach all this, then it teaches nothing as to salvation ; 
it is the noblest of books, the most valuable of books, 
a treasury of knowledge, of history, eloquence, poetry ; 
but it contains no Gospel, it is no revelation of the ex- 
ceeding riches of grace in the redemption of sinners. 

Our text refers to a different kind of communion with 
Jesus — a fellowship in suffering. The subject is mys- 
terious and difficult. As we read the passage we discern, 
as through a mist, some vague glimpses of its import. — 
The words breathe a melancholy music which our hearts 
know and love ; but as soon, as we attempt to give our 
thoughts a definite form, to claim for guilty beings a 
participation in the Kedeemer's sufferings, we are ap- 
palled and hasten to intercept the conclusion. The lan- 
guage before us is however, clear and positive as to such 
a fellowship. Let us humbly seek to penetrate its 
meaning. 

Now to tell you that suffering enters largely into hu- 
man life, that it is not an accident, a single dark thread 
traversing a bright texture, but is a most important 
element in the economy of our present existence, this 
would be only to repeat a truth which is too mournfully 
impressed upon us every day. The entire Bible supposes sor- 
row and suffering, and would be an unintelligible volume 
to beings always happy. Philosophers have speculated, 
sometimes wildly, sometimes ingeniously, as to the cause 
of pain and misery in the world ; and no doubt they are 
right in ascribing much of it to sin and ignorance. But, 
after all such deductions, how much sorrow and suffering 
remain which cannot be traced to either blindness or 
guilt. Indeed it would be fearful to impute all suffering 
to these causes ; for then those who are most afflicted 
are the most guilty. 

" We suffer by the will of God ;" it is plain that he 
means us to pass through this ordeal. A single fact is 
conclusive on this point ; it is, that in our bodies, minds, 
hearts there are exquisite capacities for pain as well as 
pleasure. God intends that we shall experience sorrow 



Felloivship in Christ's Sufferings. 271 

and anguish, or he would not have opened this source of 
bitterness in the very centre of our being. As man, 
Jesus was "made perfect through suffering;" and it is 
through the same austere discipline that we are to reach 
the true dignity and glory of our nature — to" come unto 
a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the 
fullness of Christ." Xo language can describe the bit- 
terness and utter desolation of the heart under its first 
great bereavement, when it gives itself up to wretched- 
ness — time and repeated afflictions not having yet taught 
us that no earthly sorrow is unbearable. But if we are 
Christians we shall experience the sweet uses of adversi- 
ty. The religion of Jesus is designed to confer upon us 
a good far superior to any present enjoyment. To secure 
this good, afflictions are indispensable. And therefore 
in the Gospel system our sorrows are preferments; chas- 
tisements are the expressions of God's love. Afflictions 
are indeed the only blessings bestowed without being 
asked for — so necessary are they. And what the Bible 
declares is confirmed by every child of God. He feels 
that afflictions are distinctions. For him there is in 
sanctified suffering an alchemy which turns everything 
into gold. 

To-day, however, we are to consider not all the ills 
which are the inevitable lot of human life, but those in 
which we sympathize with Jesus. The text is not an 
isolated passage. The same Apostle says elsewhere, 
"As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our con- 
solation also aboundeth by Christ." "As ye are par- 
takers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the con- 
solations ;" " If we suffer we shall also reign with him." 
And Peter calls us to ".rejoice inasmuch as we are par- 
takers of Christ's sufferings." There is therefore be- 
tween the Redeemer and his disciples a community of 
sorrows, — a truth this, our apprehension of which will 
depend upon our knowledge of the great mystery of the 
Gospel, — will be in proportion to our spiritual discern- 
ment of the grand peculiarity of that religion which 
the Saviour came to teach or rather to embody. 

In natural religion we can know God only as a creator 
and moral governor. Under this economy, he is the in- 
ii 12 



272 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

visible Jehovah, dwelling in light unapproachable, whom 
we can never find out by searching. He reveals himself 
to us in his works and providences ; but the more closely 
we study these oracles, the more are our thoughts baffled, 
and we can only exclaim, "Lo these are parts of his 
ways, but how little a portion is heard of him." 

In the Bible God has made a transcendently glorious 
revelation of himself. " In the beginning was the 
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was 
God." Of this "Word" it is said, "In Him was life." 
But between us and this " Word," in his original glory, 
there was an impassible chasm. " The Word," however, 
" was made flesh ;" and thus, life was brought near to us. 
Hence he says, " My flesh which I will give for the life 
of the world." In the dispensation of the Gospel we 
have Deity in humanity ; and in the theology of the 
Gospel, piety is spiritual, personal union with this glori- 
ous Incarnation. Jesus constantly declares that he 
came to communicate himself to us ; to be the vine in- 
fusing into the branches the very same sap by which its 
own vitality is sustained. And the office of the Holy 
Spirit is to "glorify" this mysterious Being; to apply 
his atonement; and so to incorporate us into him, that 
we live because he lives — our life being hid in him. 
" I in them and thou in me, that they may be made per- 
fect in one," — this is the wonderful consummation de- 
signed for those who are Christ's. " I am crucified with 
Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in 
me." We are partakers of Christ's life — his trials and 
sorrows — as well as his righteousness, strength and 
victory. 

These general remarks you readily comprehend. 
They are, indeed, the doctrines everywhere found in the 
Sacred Books; and they teach us what is meant by our 
fellowship in Christ's sufferings. This illustrious Being 
is closer to us than a brother, more than a member of 
the same family and partaker of our human flesh and 
blood ; he is identified with his members, and they have 
communion in his sorrows, because by faith they have 
union with him in mind, in heart, in spirit, in life. 



Fellowship in Christ's Sufferings. 273 



But upon such a subject this general interpretation is 
not enough. We must enter deeper into a truth so full 
of instruction and consolation. And that we may go at 
once into detail, let us glance at some of the causes of 
the Saviour's sufferings — I mean those we can share with 
him. In this view we will feel that, as we are true and 
holy, his griefs and sorrows will be our griefs and sor- 
rows ; we shall " drink of the cup that he drank of, and 
be baptized with the baptism that he was baptized 
with." 

Of these causes I take, first, that enmity to truth 
which Jesus everywhere encountered. He suffered as 
the advocate of truth. " To this end was I born, and 
for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear 
witness unto the truth." This testimony exposed him 
to hatred, calumny, persecution, martyrdom. His king- 
dom was not, and is not of this world, because it is the 
empire of truth. He is the king of truth; and you 
know the conduct of the world to this king, when he 
was in its power. " Ye seek to kill me, a man that told 
you the truth." Meek, lowly, holy, gentle, the imper- 
sonation of love and goodness, the world could not 
endure his presence. He was seized, dragged to the bar 
as a felon, and cruelly murdered. 

This spirit was not peculiar to that age, nor to the 
actors in that dismal tragedy. Every loyal disciple will 
participate with his Master in enduring enmity and 
malice for the truth's sake. " Am I therefore become 
your enemy, because I tell you the truth ?" Think of 
the transcendent value of all truth, especially of relig- 
ious truth. Is he not my best friend who is faithful to 
me, and seeks to rescue me from error and falsehood ? 
Is not this fidelity the very first attribute we profess to 
desire in a friend ? Yet, when, where, has religious 
truth been uttered, without exciting the enmity of the 
human heart ? If patriarchs, prophets and apostles 
could have been refuted, they would probably have 
escaped persecution; but because the w T ords they pro- 
claimed extorted a verdict from men's consciences, they 
were pursued with implacable malice. The multitude 
whom John saw under the altar, was composed of those 



274 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

who "were slain for the word of God, and for the testi- 
mony which they held ; therefore white robes were given 
unto every one of them." In the Old Testament we 
behold God raising up and sending prophet after pro- 
phet; but men persecuted and slew them for speaking the 
truth. In the New Testament we see Jew and Eoman 
and Greek, priest and people, the noble and the vile, the 
learned and the ignorant, all inflamed with this unre- 
lenting animosity ; eagerly imbruing their hands in the 
blood of those who were true to the truth. Nor is the 
human heart different now. In the world, in the church, 
in the family, that prophecy is still fulfilled, " Think not 
I am come to send peace ; I am come to send not peace 
but a sword." If we imitate the faithfulness of the 
Redeemer, if we identify ourselves with his people and 
his truth, we will share the treatment he met, we will 
have fellowship with him in suffering for the truth. 

Another source of the Saviour's sorrows was, the dis- 
orders wrought by sin and which he saw everywhere 
around him. His tears, his deepest anguish, his bitter- 
est lamentations were for these spiritual desolations. 

True he was touched by human poverty, affliction, 
sickness, bereavement. So tender Avere his sympathies 
with man, that he took all our miseries into familiar 
companionship with his own heart. " He bore our griefs 
and carried our sorrows." No class was so degraded that 
he stooped not to relieve its wretchedness ; nor could any 
personal weariness, exhaustion, injury, insult or pain dry 
up the fountain of love in his bosom. But it was the 
moral blight, the guilt and degradation of our race, which 
smote his soul and made him a "man of sorrows and ac- 
quainted with grief." And here, again, if we are Christ's, 
we will communicate in his sufferings. 

His Father was dishonored by the sins — the disorders, 
which filled the earth ; for every sin is an attempt to 
break down those munitions behind which are entrenched 
the stabilities of his- government, Jesus was jealous of 
his Father's honor. " I have glorified thee upon the 
earth," he exclaims — finding in the vindication of his 
Father's honor here upon the very spot where it had been 
most insulted, a sublime compensation for all he had 



Fellowship in Chrisfs Sufferings. 275 

endured. When Judas goes out to marshal the band which 
is to seize him, he anticipates with rapture that cross 
which was to shed such effulgence upon the divine 
character and government; uttering those strange words 
of impatient exultation, "Now is the Son of Man glori- 
fied, and God is glorified in him/' And, if we have his 
spirit, we will share in this zeal. Eivers of water will 
run down our eyes because men keep not God's laws. 
We will know something of the anguish with which the 
Eedeemer poured out his soul in that mournful cry, "0 
righteous Father, the world hath not known thee." 

Jesus wept over the corruptions and disorders around 
him, not only because he was zealous for his Father's 
glory, but because he loved man. He groaned in spirit, 
he was bathed in tears as he looked upon our lost and 
ruined condition ; as he saw rational immortal beings 
whom he had formed for happiness and glory, preferring 
sin and wretchedness, sinking into the abysses of woe, 
and repelling all the mercy and compassion which had 
come to seek and to save them. And, if our hearts have 
been renewed by the Holy Spirit, it will be impossible 
for us not to be touched by the same anguish. We will 
share some measure of the deep, melting, gushing sorrow 
which convulsed his frame as he approached Jerusalem ; 
and which, as he walked the streets of the doomed city, 
wrung from him that bitter wail of defeated love and 
patience, " Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the 
prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how 
often would I have gathered thy children together even 
as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye 
would not." 

Jesus " suffered being tempted." Here is a third 
source of the Eeedeemer's sorrows; and you know it is 
especially as to temptation that we are assured of the 
closest sympathy between us and our compassionate 
High Priest. 

Sympathy — this word literally means suffering to- 
gether ; and in this element of our constitution we find 
one of the most mysterious and wonderful psychological 
phenomena, a principle which God has established to 
bind us together and to give us, from our own experience, 



276 Richard Fuller's Sermons, 

some conception of his own heart. By this law we are 
so linked together — by ties so sensitive — that a blow 
upon our neighbor instantly strikes us ; and this commiser- 
ation identifies us with his sufferings, summoning up our 
affections, and enlisting our generous impulses in his 
behalf. " Who is weak " says the Apostle, " and I am 
not weak ? Who is offended and I burn not ?" 

The priesthood of Jesus is founded on his humanity. 
He can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities be- 
cause he is human, and because his humanity is ours. 
For the same reason we are touched with the feeling of 
his sorrows and sufferings. And I may appeal to 
every Christian, whether he is not conscious of a 
sympathy, a mystical affinity which so identifies us with 
Jesus, that all the finest issues of our nature vibrate to 
his sufferings, — that in every blow the Kedeemer feels, as 
the rude storms bow his gentle head, there is a counter 
blow upon our tenderest susceptibilities, — that the re- 
proaches of those who reproached this adorable Being 
fall upon us ; that the impress of his cross is upon our 
hearts. To this mysterious power of the Saviour's suf- 
ferings the prophet refers in that remarkable prediction, 
"They shall look upon him whom they have pierced, 
and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his 
only son, -and shall be in bitterness for him as one that 
is in bitterness for his first-born." Nor let any say that 
this is only the natural pity we feel for any innocent 
sufferer. No, and again no. There is between Jesus 
and those who have his Spirit, a sympathy which makes 
them one, an affinity so intimate and dear and wonder- 
ful, that their bosoms throb with the griefs which stung 
him. Not a pain of that august sufferer but smites 
upon the renewed soul. The thorns which pierce the 
head must shoot pangs through the members. The 
anguish at the heart must pervade the whole body. 

But I have digressed from the topic before us. I am 
now speaking, not of this general sympathy with the 
Saviour, but of our fellowship with him in the sufferings 
of temptation. And as to this all is clear. He " toas 
in all points tempted like as we are." Whatever then the 
artifices or malice of the assault, whatever the loathsome 



Fellowship in Chrisfs Sufferings. 277 

suggestions, the unsearchable machinations of the 
tempter, we only endure what he endured. Our " prayers 
and supplications with strong crying and tears" are 
the echoes of his sobbings and cryings in the days of his 
flesh. When the billows are highest, faith sees him 
with us in the vessel. When the furnace is heated seven 
times hotter than it is wont to be heated, we know that 
he has been there before us, we feel that he is there with 
us, — his heart taught by bitter experience to pity and 
succor us in time of need. 

I will add here only one thought more. It is sug- 
gested by that remarkable passage in which the Apostle 
speaks of his completing afflictions which Jesus left 
behind. " Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, 
and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of 
Christ in my flesh, for his body's sake, which is the 
church." 

These are astonishing words. What, has the Saviour, 
then, left any portion of his sufferings unfinished ? In 
the literal meaning of the term, such a doctrine would 
be the grossest heresy; — the very heresy of the Church 
of Kome, which teaches that in the Mass the sacrifice of 
the cross is repeated. The Holy Spirit seems to have 
anticipated this impiety, when, with such frequency and 
emphasis, the contrast is drawn between the defects of 
the Jewish sacrifices " offered often-times," and the per- 
fect and eternal efficacy of the " one offering of the 
body of Jesus once for all." But there is a sense in 
which a supplement of the Saviour's afflictions is filled 
up by the faithful Christian. The oblation of the cross 
is perpetuated, carried on — not materially, but spiritual- 
ly — in every heart, in every life which is consecrated to 
a crucified Jesus and to his suffering cause. As the 
Apostle says, " the church is Christ's body." This 
church is now engaged in arduous conflicts, exposed to 
stern trials and painful sufferings. So identified is 
Jesus with his church, that those who persecute it, per- 
secute him. But, now, the griefs and distresses of this 
church are the griefs and distresses of all who are truly 
Christ's. Never, never did patriot, weeping over his 
bleeding country, never did mother, bending over her 



278 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

suffering child, know sorrow and sympathy deeper than 
those which afflict the soul of the Christian in all the 
afflictions of Zion. "By the rivers of Babylon, there we 
sat down, yea, we wept." Why ? Are these captives 
bathed in tears for the fortunes they had lost ? for 
homes from which they had been driven ? for the hard- 
ships they endure as exiles in a distant land ? No, they 
weep, their eyes run down, " when they remember Zion." 
" We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst 
thereof. If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right 
hand forget her cunning; if I do not remember thee, 
let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I 
prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." 

So absorbing was the Apostle's love for the church, 
that he exulted in the thought of sacrificing everything 
for her prosperity. "Whether we be afflicted it is for 
your consolation and salvation." " Who now rejoice in 
my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind 
of the afflictions of Christ, for his body's sake which is 
the church." Heroical man, — or rather, as he himself 
exclaims, — miracle of grace and mercy ! We murmur if 
our ease, avarice, pride are called to surrender anything 
for the cause of Jesus ; he coveted as a dower, as a sub- 
lime pleasure, the austere glory of suffering, when in 
suffering he had fellowship with him " who loved the 
church and gave himself for it." In the great atone- 
ment on Calvary we find a plea for indolence, covetous- 
ness, sin ; he felt that the cross made suffering not only 
a virtue, a necessity, but a glory, a pleasure, and that the 
Saviour's sacrifice can avail us nothing, ought to avail 
us nothing, unless, entering into the spirit, we offer our- 
selves also with all we have as a great sacrifice on the 
altar of the Redeemer's kingdom. 

From the causes, let us pass, now, to the nature of the 
Saviour's sufferings ; and here we will find there is fel- 
lowship between him and his members. 

In the Epistle to the Corinthians there is a very 
striking definition of evangelical sorrow. The words 
rendered "godly sorroiv" are, in the original, sorroiv ac- 
cording to God" The true penitent, the liumble contrite 



Fellowship in Christ's Sufferings. 279 

heart, sorrows according to God ; sorrows as God sorrows. 
But what meaning can we attach to this language ? 
None, certainly, if we study only the revelation which 
God has made of himself in nature and providence. 
When we turn, however, to the other revelation, the 
manifestation of Deity in our humanity, we comprehend 
these words, they are full of instruction. Here we see 
the sorrow of a divine Being. And though in intensity 
there can never be griefs like his, yet in their nature 
they were sorrows of which a Christian largely par- 
takes. 

Take, for example, one character of his sufferings, 
which the Son of God often mentioned as most painful 
and oppressive. I mean their loneliness. He " trod the 
wine-press alone ;" and is not every child of God alone 
in his deepest experiences and sorest trials ? The de- 
pressing influence of this forlorn feeling upon our Apos- 
tle, you all know. You recollect how he " thanked God 
and took courage/' when a few friends met him journey- 
ing, wearily and broken in spirits, over the dreary 
Pontine Marshes. And what a sad desolate tone in that 
complaint, " At my first answer no man stood with me, 
but all forsook me." 

This spiritual loneliness we all have known. In his 
profoundest exercises the Christian is always solitary. 
Every true, noble soul, every loving heart, must live and 
love and suffer alone. !SJot that the true disciple of 
Jesus is a cloistered hermit. I\ o, no. You meet him in 
the streets, in the market, on change, and he seems to 
you like any other man ; but he is not like any other 
man. In his hidden conflicts and spiritual sorrows, he 
lives in a different world from that occupied by other 
men. His heart knows its own bitterness, with which a 
stranger intermeddleth not, and for which the world has 
neither appreciation nor sympathy. 

It is ever a peculiarity of the gracious and purifying 
influence of the Cross over the heart, that it is a solitary 
discipline. " I will pour upon the house of David and 
upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace 
and of supplication. And they shall look upon me 
whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him 
ii 13* 



280 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

as one that mourneth for his only son, and shall be in 
bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his 
first-born. In that day there shall be a great mourning in 
Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the val- 
ley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every fam- 
ily apart; the family of the house of David apart, and 
their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan 
apart, and their wives apart ; the family of the house of 
Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the 
house of Shimei apart, and their wives apart. All the 
families that remain, every family apart and their wives 
apart." 

If the Saviour was solitary in his griefs, the gracious 
soul comprehends what it is to have fellowship with him 
in that spiritual solitude. Just so far as he possesses the 
spirit of Jesus, the believer will feel himself alone; alone 
in the world, and often alone in the family, suffering as 
a witness to the truth ; alone in his tears and supplica- 
tions over the miseries which sin hath wrought and for 
which his soul weeps " in secret places ;" alone in his 
stern hours of darkness and temptation ; alone — alas 
that it should be so! — alone in his undying love for the 
church, and in his deep anguish over the desolations of 
Zion. 

In the verse from which our text is taken the Apostle 
uses a word which lets us farther into the fellowship 
which the Christian has in the sufferings of Christ. — 
That word is " conformable." " That I may know him 
and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of 
his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." 
We participate, then, in the Saviour's sufferings, when 
in what we endure we are assimilated to him as our pat- 
tern; when his crucifixion finds its counterpart in our 
own experience, so that we are crucified with him ; when 
we suffer in his strength and in his spirit ; when we re- 
cognize in our sufferings the evil of sin; when we feel 
(what the term "vicarious "implies) that his suffering was 
justly our doom; in short, when we exemplify the 
sublime truth taught in the death of Jesus, that God is 
love, and that to love is to welcome sacrifice and suffering. 



Fellowship in Christ's Sufferings. 281 

In the whole life, but especially in the death of Jesus, 
we have the true perfection of love ; for we have perfect 
self-immolation. With sacrifices we are familiar enough ; 
the strong everywhere sustaining themselves by the sa- 
crifice of the weak. The Gospel turns this spirit upon 
ourselves ; and we are conformed to Christ's death, we 
participate in Christ's sufferings when we enter into his 
self-sacrifice. What it cost him to " make his soul an of- 
fering for sin " we can never comprehend. If all the 
misery which human hearts have known from the crea- 
tion ; if all the pangs which have pierced the souls of 
widows and orphans, and parents wailing for their chil- 
dren ; if all the woes of nations smitten by famine, deso- 
lated by pestilence, exterminated by war; if all the tor- 
tures of the dungeon, the rack, the scaffold, the fire — if 
all this anguish could be concentrated and emphasized, 
it would be a sort of pleasure compared with the agony 
which bowed and rent his soul. All this he foresaw; yet 
he shrank not, he welcomed all. And it is as we are ab- 
sorbed into a spirit of self-sacrifice in any way resembling 
his, that we are made conformable unto Christ's death. 
We have communion in his sufferings as we die with 
Christ unto self, and rise with him to our proper life — 
the life of self-surrender to the will of God. The calm, 
tranquil energy of the Kedeemer's soul; the deep strength 
of principle which nothing could shake ; the serene cour- 
age which looked down upon menaces, clamor, contume- 
ly, suffering, sacrifice, death, — this is the temper which 
pours contempt upon the intrepidity of heroes, but which 
the Holy Spirit infuses into the humble Christian. And 
so far as we are imbued with this celestial virtue, and as, 
thus armed, we do battle with the world's sin, and suffer 
in this sublime warfare — winning and wearing that rioh- 
est of all diadems for mortal brows, a crown of thorns — 
just so far do we " know Jesus, and the power of his re- 
surrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being 
made conformable unto his death." 

There. are two other aspects of the Kedeemer's suffer- 
ings in which a devoted soul has fellowship with him ; 
but I can only indicate them in so many words. I refer 
to the consolations which the Christian experiences along 



282 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

the thorny path in which he follows the Saviour's foot- 
steps; and to the efficacy of suffering in exalting and 
perfecting our nature. 

It was no easy task the Son of Man undertook. So ar- 
duous and fearful was his mission, that his not failing 
nor being discouraged [Isaiah xlii : 4] was predicted as 
a sublime triumph of almighty power. And what sus- 
tained and cheered his spirit when weary and careworn, 
when tried and tempted, when thwarted and often baf- 
fled, but ever sublimely erect ? It was those secret con- 
solations of which he said, " I have meat to eat that ye 
know not of." It was the approving voice from heaven 
as he ascended from the waters of baptism. It was the 
strengthening ministry of angels after his temptation and 
in the garden. It was the presence of his Father — "I am 
not alone, but I and the Father that sent me" — "Behold 
the hour cometh, yea, and is now come, that ye shall be 
scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone, 
and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me." 
In a word, it was the "joy set before him" of final tri- 
umph — that he should see of the travail of his soul and 
be satisfied. 

And the Apostle emphatically marks our participation 
in the Saviour's consolations and joys, as the fruit of our 
partnership in his sufferings. "As ye are partakers of 
the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolations." — 
"As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our conso- 
lation also aboundeth by Christ." It must be night be- 
fore the stars appear ; and the Eedeemer's consolations 
and joys can arise in the heart only when we experience 
something of the sorrow and desolateness which darkened 
all his days. 

Sharing the joys which mingled with the sufferings 
of Jesus, the Christian — as I have said — participates al- 
so, in the ennobling, exalting, perfecting influence of 
those sufferings. Ponder these remarkable words : "For 
it became him, for whom are al] things, and by whom 
are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make 
the Captain of their salvation perfect through suffering;" 
" Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the 
things which he suffered." The word character is liter- 



Fellowship in Christ's Sufferings. 283 

ally a Greek term derived from the verb charasso, to en- 
grave with a sharp instrument, and means a will framed 
and fashioned by repeated strokes and impressions. The 
perfection of Christian character is a will perfectly 
moulded to the will of God. This the Man Jesus at- 
tained through trials and painful conflicts. He ever had 
a filial heart, but it w r as by sharp discipline and by suc- 
cessive acts of resolute volition that there was developed 
and built up in his humanity a spirit which in the ex- 
tremest misery still clung to his Father's will with un- 
trembling confidence and submission. 

This severe education is indispensable to the full 
development and highest excellence of our nature. It 
would have been necessary had man never fallen. Of 
all the elements of this education the humanity of Jesus 
partook, until in him innocence rose to perfection. And 
Christ living in us — the temper of Jesus — his spirit, his 
life in the Christian — is made perfect by the same ordeal. 
"By the one offering of himself, he hath perfected for- 
ever them that are sanctified " The Christian, then, not 
only communicates in the expiation finished on the cross, 
and in the power of that cross to calm the conscience 
and subdue the depravity of the heart, but he is a par- 
taker of the perfection which his Saviour achieved by 
suffering ; nor is there any moral excellence of Christ's 
humanity, which we (yet not we, but Christ living in us) 
may not attain. But how? By " sanctification;" by 
sanctification in the sense in which Jesus says, "For 
their sakes I sanctify myself; that is by self-devotement, . 
by a self-sacrifice conformable to the sacrifice which 
Jesus made of himself. Conformable, I say, and with 
fc reason. For in the Christian's experience there is a 
counterpart to the Saviour's advent, life, death. There 
is first the hour of conversion, of inward manifestation ; 
when, after bitter pangs, it pleases God to reveal his 
Son in bim ; when Jesus enters the humble heart, and, 
amid angelic songs and heavenly joys, is formed within 
the soul and becomes "the hope of glory." Then, there 
is the long stern ordeal ; the painful protracted struggle 
with sin; the weary years of conflict, discouragement, 
temptation, fear, darkness; the days of strong crying 



284 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

and tears; the imploring supplication, " If it be possible 
let this cup pass away."- And, then, there comes the 
victory; when self-immolation is finished, when, with a 
resignation, a preference — in which his wishes, his inter- 
ests, his happiness are all swallowed up in God — the 
Christian can exclaim, " Nevertheless, not my will but 
thine be done;" when his soul takes the very print of 
Christ's death, and Christ's resurrection life reigns in 
his heart and controls his life. 

My brethren, the subject upon which I have been ad- 
dressing you, furnishes one of the most infallible evi- 
dences of real piety. Convictions, feelings, excitements, 
joys may deceive us; but there can be no mistake if we 
have fellowship with Christ in his sufferings. Both of 
the Gospel ordinances are designed to teach us our 
identity with a suffering Saviour. In Baptism we are 
" buried with him, and raised up again " with him. In 
the Supper we spiritually eat his body, and drink his 
blood. And if our conduct vindicate the reality of this 
union; if, not only in our tastes and joys, but in suffer- 
ing and sorrow, we are one with Jesus, we cannot doubt 
" whose we are, and whom we serve." 

Brotherhood in toil and sacrifices proves a brotherhood 
in allegiance to a common cause. When we see the 
three Hebrews in the furnace, or Paul and Silas in the 
dungeon at Philippi, we feel at once that those who 
thus suffer together are knit together in heart. Oh, he 
*may be only a hollow courtier, a fawning parasite and 
sycophant, who serves his prince in the day of prosperi- 
ty. Let the blasts of war be heard, let a hostile army 
invade the realm, let the throne be in danger, — then the * 
souls of men will be tried. The selfish and faithless 
minions of court favor will shrink away ; but the loyal 
and true in heart will leap forward to share the perils of 
their king ; they will " rejoice to be partakers of his suf- 
ferings " — to abide the worst for and with him — to " fol- 
low his white plume " into the thickest of the fight, and 
there still to stand side by side with him, where the 
death shot is quickest, and the sabre flash is fastest 
and brightest. 



Fellowship in Christ's Sufferings. 285 

Our subject has another lesson ; it teaches us that to 
be absorbed in Christ is the true life of faith. " I am 
crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but 
Christ liveth in me." Natural life ends with death. 
Spiritual life begins with death — a death unto sin. " If 
Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin, but the 
Spirit is life because of righteousness/' " To me to live 
is Christ." The Christian's life is Christ's life working- 
out itself in us and through us — Christ's inner life; — 
so that w^e have fellowship in his trials, his sorrows, his 
joys, his strength, his victory. We are " risen with 
Christy" we are "raised up and made to sit together in 
heavenly places in Christ Jesus." It is little to say that 
a Christian looks up from earth to heaven ; he ought to 
look down from heaven to earth. This is our highest 
life ; and we forfeit the sublime joys of faith, because 
we shrink from this life, we are not willing to lose the 
life of sensuous happiness, that w T e may find this spirit- 
ual life. This is really to lose the soul ; and the gain of 
the whole world would be no compensation for such a 
bereavement. 



Would that I knew how to impress this great truth 
upon you as I feel it ; to bring you to comprehend that 
as Christ suffered that he might enter into his glory, so 
we can rise to our true glory here and hereafter only by 
having fellowship with Christ in his sufferings. My 
friends, the glory of the soul is to grow into the " ex- 
press image" (literally "the expressed character") of 
God in Christ, — to live as Christ lived, to love as he 
loved, to share his conflicts, his sacrifices, his heavenly 
succors and illuminations. Sin wrongs the soul by de- 
spoiling it of this sympathy with Jesus in his aims, his 
feelings, his earnest and holy self-immolation. It is for 
this reason that, in the Scriptures, sin is the greatest, 
the only evil. Affliction, poverty,- disease, pain are not 
to be compared with it; they may strengthen our true 
life ; but sin destroys it. And, yet, how impotent all 
our exhortations to warn you from inflicting this w r orst 
injury upon yourselves. Laws may be enacted to guard 
men from being murdered; but what laws can protect 



286 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

them from suicide? And so here. Our admonitions 
may arm you against outward enemies; but against the 
worldliness, selfishness, secret sins which strike the gar- 
land of peace from your highest life, — all our entreaties 
and expostulations are powerless. 

Men and brethren, the Christian has a proof of 
Christ's life and sufferings and death and resurrection 
superior to all argument. He has communion with 
Christ in these things. A crucified, ascended Saviour is 
not to him a theological tenet, not a doctrine only; it is 
a soul-rejoicing experience. He " hath the witness in 
himself" that Jesus, not only lived, but now lives — lives 
for him and in him. The greatest truths are ever known 
through the heart; and this sublimest of all truths, 
this amazing sacrifice which Eternal Love has made for 
guilty man, can be comprehended only by the heart, — 
by communion with that Love in its sorrows, sacrifices, 
triumphs, joys. 

Such a knowledge of Jesus will engage us in a life 
like his — the only life in which we can know our high- 
est blessedness — a life of self-denial and self-conquest, 
of clear decided activity for God; and this, from our 
fellowship, our oneness of heart with him; our love car- 
rying out the life he lived — causing us to be "always 
bearing about in the body the dying of our Lord Jesus, 
that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in 
our body," — constraining us to make the sacrifices which 
he made, and which are the essence, the perfection of 
love. With this sublime life the unconverted man has 
no affinity, he hates it. He may wish to reach heaven, 
just as a beggar, sunk in sin and corruption, may wish 
to be a king; but for the discipline by which the child 
of God is made " meet for an inheritance among the 
saints in light," he has no more heart than the depraved 
vagabond has for the training by which a young prince 
is prepared for the throne. 

But you my beloved brethren, rejoice that you are 
partakers of this heavenly life, And be not satisfied 



Fellowship in Christ's Sufferings. 287 



with sympathies which beat with languid, intermittent 
pulsations. Enter into the spirit of our Apostle, who 
longed to know more of Christ — to have more of the 
mind that was in Christ Jesus, — to experience more of 
his firm, disinterested, holy devotion to his Father and 
the salvation of a lost world, — to partake more largely 
and cheerfully in his sorrows and in the unconquerable 
will to do right which rises calmly in the bosom, bidding 
us to suffer and be strong even as he suffered and was 
strong. For my own part, when I reflect upon this 
mystical oneness with Jesus, I feel an assurance which 
no language can utter that Jesus, not, only was on earth, 
but is now in heaven ; and, with a calm, rejoicing faith 
I anticipate the happiness and glory of our eternal des- 
tiny. As we have been partakers of the earthly life of 
the Son of God, so shall we be of his heavenly. " In 
the regeneration/' — in the new heavens and new earth 
where dwelleth righteousness, — " when the Son of Man 
shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye which have 
followed me shall sit upon twelve thrones." " Ye are 
dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God; when 
Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also 
appear with him in glory." " The glory which thou 
gavest me, have I given them." If we suffer we shall 
also reign with him." Passages like these could easily 
be multiplied, and how sublime the future of which 
they assure us. 

Natural life seeks contentment with the present. 
Spiritual life — the life of Christ in us — is full of irre- 
pressible longings and aspirations. What a privilege to 
be "made conformable" to the death of Christ, that we ' 
may be made conformable to his life in glory; to be 
" partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory 
shall be revealed w^e may be glad also with exceeding 
joy." This prospect caused Moses to esteem the re- 
proach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of 
Egypt. This caused the Apostles to take pleasure in 
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, 
in distresses for Christ's sake, to "rejoice that they were 
partakers of Christ's sufferings." The zeal and patience 



288 Richard Fullers Sermons. 

of that cloud of witnesses who compass us around, the 
sleepless vigilance of those faithful sentinels who age 
after age have trimmed and replenished the beacon 
lights of the Gospel, the unshaken constancy of the 
noble army of martyrs who welcomed contempt and 
death for the truth, the victorious agonies of saints, 
prophets, apostles, — all these have been the triumphs of 
Christ's life in his people, of Christ's everlasting love 
shed abroad in their souls, — of love suffering with 
Christ, that it might be glorified together with him. 
Than this life, God can bestow upon us nothing more 
divine, hi imparting to us this life, Jesus gives us a 
boon infinitely more precious than the material universe ; 
he gives us himself; his strength, peace, joy now : his 
honor, his blessedness hereafter, " when he shall come 
to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all 
them that believe." 

I am far from supposing that I have fully interpreted 
the sublime passage which has been the theme of this 
discourse ; but I have said enough to disclose to you 
many sources of consolation and strength, to shew you 
that, while the very sunshine in which the wicked bask 
ripens them for destruction, they are most happy and 
honored to whom it is given on behalf of Christ, not 
only to believe on him, but to suffer for him and with 
him. If we are called to endure tribulation for the 
Gospel, let it rejoice our souls to reflect, that we are 
filling what remains of the afflictions of Jesus, drinking 
some drops which he left for us in his own cup. If we 
are persecuted, he has fellowship with us, and feels that 
the enmity which assails us is directed against him. In 
our weakness, his strength is ours. In our conflicts, his 
victories are ours. In our bereavements and sorrows, 
his grace is ours. He had not where to lay his weary 
head, that we might have his bosom on which to lean 
our fevered brows. He endured the cross and despised 
the shame, that, instead of weeping and wailing, we 
might share his immortal blessedness, — that instead of 
everlasting contempt we might sit down with him on his 
throne and receive a crown of glory which shall never 
fade away. 



Fellowship in Christ's Sufferings. 289 

Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God 
would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all 
the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith 
with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ 
may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the 
grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. To him 
be praise and dominion forever and ever. A^ien. 




290 Richard Fuller's Sermotis. 



Sertnott SCrteentfu 



ELIJAH'S FAITH AND DEFECT. 



"And as Obadiah was in the way, behold Elijah met him ; and he knew 
him, and fell on his face and said, Art thou my lord Elijah ?"— 1 Kings 
xviii: 7. 

IF we carefully examine the biographies of those who 
have been heroes, both in the world and in the church, 
I think we will detect in the experience of each of them 
a critical era which seems to have made him what he af- 
terwards became; an hour when there came upon him a 
strange mysterious sense of power that gave his soul a 
strong continuous forward impulse, by which he was 
himself mastered, and by which he began to master 
others. 

With the servants of God it is a singular phenomenon, 
too, that — as if to keep us humble ; and to remind us of 
our entire dependence on divine grace — such experiences 
are almost always succeeded' by seasons of peculiar de- 
pression and infirmity, which appear to be wholly in*e- 
concilable with the inward revelation of strength in 
which they once gloried; seasons in which they disap- 
point all our estimate of their characters, and — what is 
very remarkable — prove most lamentably defective in the 
very traits for which they had been most distinguished. 
On some great public occasion how grandly they loom up 
above the dead level of humanity. But when the pageant 
is over, they begin to feel that admiration is not love, that 
enthusiasm is not faith, that popularity is not happiness, 
and they sink into a despondency and weakness propor- 
tioned to their former excitement 



Elijah's Faith and Defect. 291 

My text is taken from a passage in the life of Elijah 
which most signal iy exemplifies each of these observa- 
tions ; let us enter into the matter. 

I. The prophet is here introduced as he comes forth 
from the retirement in which he had been communing 
with himself and with God. A great part of this seclu- 
sion w T as spent in the garret of an humble cottage, where 
the frugal widow of Zarephath had supplied his wants. 
He who was " the Lord of glory " had not where to lay 
his head. " Of whom the world was not worthy, they 
wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens, and 
in caves of the earth." And he who was to ascend in a 
chariot of fire, abode in the loft of a poor woman's cabin. 
Here God concealed him, ostensibly from the rage of the 
tiger Ahab ; but in reality that, by solitary meditation 
and prayer, he might recruit his strength ami build up 
in himself the faith and courage which were soon to be 
called into exercise. 

Do not hastily pass this fact; it deserves our particular 
attention at this day. The Saviour's ministry lasted only 
three years; yet we find him often retiring apart for se- 
cret prayer and intercourse with his Father. Paul was 
an apostle " not of men, neither by man," and he glowed 
with a zeal and love which seemed irrepressible ; yet he 
sequestered himself for three years among the rocky 
mountain heights of the Eed Sea — scenes hallowed by 
Moses and Elijah — that he might give himself to silent 
devotion and contemplation before entering upon his 
glorious mission. And our prophet dwells for nearly 
three years in a little chamber, alone with God and his 
own thoughts. 

Xow, it seems, there is no leisure for calm reflection, 
for austere self examination, and for soul invigorating 
communion with the Father of lights. All is haste, ex- 
citement, eagerness and restlessness. And the conse- 
quence is, that there never was an age in which every- 
thing was so superficial, in which there were so many 
volumes of literature and theology, of essays and dis- 
courses that are only infinitesimal particles of ore stolen 
from classical mines, arid beaten out into thin, glittering 



292 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

gold-foil. Writing, reading, preaching, character, re- 
ligion are showy and shallow. The world and the church 
are impatient of everything which does not effervesce and 
sparkle. We must have sensation books, sensation ser- 
mons, sensation piety, sensation everything. 

Looking at Elijah as he returns from solitude into act- 
ive life, the first thing which strikes us is his sublime 
faith and courage. 0, but such a spirit was worth all 
the prayer, meditation, seclusion of his little attic ; for 
he now comes forth in invincible might and rejoices as a 
strong man to run a race. " And it came to pass after 
many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in 
the third year, saying, Go shew thyself unto Ahab." 
During three years the king had hated him. Now his 
rage knew no bounds, for the whole land was smitten 
with famine, and the prophet was regarded as the cause 
of this terrible calamity. That he might be seized and 
put to death, detectives had been dispatched in every 
quarter, and an oath had been exacted from all the 
subjects of the empire, that they neither harbored, nor 
knew of the hiding place of this enemy of the nation. 
But God says to him, " Go shew thyself unto Ahab/' 
That is enough. There is no hesitation, no questioning, 
no " conferring with flesh and blood." And this is faith. 
We are willing to do what reason and prudence dictate ; 
but faith takes God at his word and obeys, leaving con- 
sequences to him. 

I spake, just now, of the necessity of secret prayer 
and communion with heaven ; let none, however, suppose 
that this requires us to shut ourselves up in convents and 
cloisters. While, in solitude, our prophet was replenish- 
ing his soul with a fresh outfit of strength, Obadiah 
was at court, holding fast his integrity in the midst of 
all its dissipations, winning the confidence of the mon- 
arch by his uprightness, and — in spite of dissolute 
princes and satraps, and of the fierce bigotry of the 
queen — protecting the prophets of the Lord when ex- 
posed to danger. " I, even I only am left," said Elijah : 
but he was mistaken. Not only had God seven thousand 
hidden ones in Israel, but among the heathen, in Zidon, 
the native country of Jezebel, he had a poor widow to 



Elijah's Faith and Defect 293 

minister to his persecuted servant; and in the precincts 
of the royal palace was an officer of the highest rank, 
who had not defiled his garments and was full of faith 
and loyalty to him. 

Obadiah was now upon an official journey, and he is 
the first person whom Elijah meets. As soon as he sees 
the man of God, he salutes him with the profoundest 
reverence. "And he knew him, and he fell on his face, 
and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah ?" Can it be 
that thou art thus venturing abroad? "And Elijah 
answered him, I am ; Go tell thy lord, Behold I am 
here." The governor feared the Lord, but the intrepid 
faith of our prophet was not for him. They that dwell 
in king's houses are generally clothed in soft raiment 
within as well as without ; and this courtier is amazed at 
the undaunted bearing of the solitary traveller. Nay, 
he cannot believe it possible that the Tishbite was 
really going to brave this raging lion ; and he sees noth- 
ing but grief and ruin to himself, if he should bear to 
the monarch an invitation which had so much the air of 
a challenge. "And he said, What have I sinned, that 
thorr wouldst deliver thy servant unto the hand of Ahab 
to slay me? As the Lord liveth there is no nation or 
kingdom whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee; 
and when they said, He is not there, he took an oath of 
the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. And 
now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here; 
and it shall come to pass as soon as I am gone from 
thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither 
I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he 
cannot find thee, he shall slay me. But I thy servant 
fear the Lord from my youth. Has it not been told my 
lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the 
Lord, how I hid a hundred of the Lord's prophets in a 
cave, and fed them with bread and water ? And now 
thou sayest, Go tell thy lord, Behold Elijah is here ; and 
he shall slay me." 

The prophet, however, assures him that he is thor- 
oughly in earnest in desiring to encounter the king. — 
"And Elijah said, As the Lord of hosts liveth before 
whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him this 



294 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

day." I am a poor, hated, despised man, and he is a 
crowned king; but I will meet him; yea he shall come 
to me. I will magnify my office. Let him come here to 
me, and he shall know this day that there is a prophet 
in Israel. 

The interview between Elijah and Ahab now takes 
place. It is brief but full of instruction ; and there are 
two things in it especially worthy of our consideration. 
First, observe the accusation. " And it came to pass, 
when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art 
thou he that troubleth Israel ?" In this question we 
feel how already the pride and vengeance of the king 
have quailed before the fearless, tranquil dignity of the 
man of God. He had sent spies through all the land 
to arrest the prophet that he might be executed; now he 
can find courage only for invective and calumny — " Art 
thou he that troubleth Israel ?" A similar charge was 
brought, you remember, against Jesus, of whom it was 
said " He stirreth up the people." In all ages, in fact, 
the world has regarded as enemies those who have told 
them the truth ; so that even the amiable historian 
Tacitus — while scouting the pretence that the Christians 
had set fire to Eome — still affirmed that it was right to 
destroy them, because they were foes to the peace and 
happiness of mankind. 

Let us not be surprised at this. The truth will dis- 
turb the false security of wicked men, and will thus 
arouse their hostility. "I am not come," said the 
Saviour, " to send peace, I am come to send a sword." 
But who is to blame for this ? Certainly not those who 
tell us the truth. They are our best friends, the friends 
of our race; for if men would receive the Gospel and 
live under its influence, there would be universal hap- 
piness. The world, however, hates the truth spoken — 
as it hated him who was Incarnate Truth, although 
his whole life was passed in " doing good ;"— and hence, 
whenever faithfully preached, it is accused of " troubling 
Israel." Churches hate it, because it assails old heredi- 
tary errors. Ministers hate it, because it disquiets those 
to whom they have cried, " Peace, peace, when there is 
no peace," Families hate it, because it interrupts the 



Elijah's Faith and Defect. 295 



harmony of those who were lulling themselves under a 
fatal delusion, because, as our Lord declares, it is a 
sword severing earthly affections, and inflaming resent- 
ment and bitterness against those members of a house- 
hold whose hearts have been changed and who are faith- 
ful to their convictions. 

The accusation. But mark now the fearless answer 
with which the prophet retorts this unjust imputation. 
"And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but 
thou and thy father's house; in that ye have forsaken 
the commandments of the Lord." A Christian should 
count it a distinguished honor, when he is attacked with 
the same weapons which were used against prophets, 
apostles, the Saviour himself; and he must be ever 
armed with the same heroic spirit. Let us not deceive 
ourselves, my friends; there ever has been, and ever 
must be a conflict between Christ and the world, between 
truth and error. And when placed by God in situations 
which require it, a Christian must know how to unfurl 
this banner, we must be uncompromising in our conduct, 
and resist the torrent, and endure the enmity, or we 
shall not only be faithless to our own souls and to truth, 
but we shall betray one of the most solemn trusts ever 
confided to man or angel. 

You are in a church, the errors of which God 
has clearly shown you. If you " come out of her," and 
thus openly condemn those errors, you will awaken 
animosity in the bosoms of those who are dear to you, 
and whose many excellences justly engage your esteem. 
But remember, that if — through an unwillingness to 
wound a pastor whom you respect, or members with 
whom you have been long associated — you continue to 
identify yourself with their communion, you are recreant 
to your conscience, you insult the Holy Spirit which 
has enlightened you, you wrong your own spiritual 
nature ; and those whom your fidelity might have saved, 
but whom you thus confirm in disobedience, will rise up 
against you at the bar of God. 

You belong to a family in which old ancestral 
sanctities of opinion are regarded with superstitious 
reverence, in which prescriptive prejudices of birth, 
ii 13 



296 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

education, religion, have been transmitted with other 
heirlooms and are devoutly honored. In spite of all 
the pride and intolerance in which you were reared, and 
of the great solicitude employed to keep your mind shut 
to the light, to prevent you from searching the Scrip- 
tures for yourself, and to rivet upon you the influence 
of schoolmasters, books, preachers, companions who 
might reinforce your hereditary prejudices, — Jesus has 
revealed himself and his truth in you, he hath shined 
in your heart to give you a saving knowledge of his 
word. Now, if you are true to this heavenly light, and 
confer not with flesh and blood, and nobly leave " father, 
mother, sister, brother/' that you may follow your Ke- 
deemer, you will feel the sharpness of the sword of 
which he warns you, you will be treated as a troubler of 
the domestic harmony and love, you will have to endure 
reproaches for deserting the faith of your forefathers, 
perhaps for having dishonored the name you bear. 
Very well. But recollect, if you shrink from all this, 
if — through dread of the displeasure of those dear to 
you — you remain silent and give your countenance to 
these prejudices, you are most perfidious to those whom 
you were sent to bless, you sin against a light they have 
not, you are false to God and your own eternal interests, 
you are ashamed of Jesus, and he will be ashamed of 
you before his Father and the holy angels. 

I need not dwell longer on this point, you can easily 
apply the intrepid protest of our prophet to other cases. 
If Elijah, if Paul lived at this day, we know they would 
abhor the thought of any compromise of truth, and we 
must imitate them. A Christian should not only be 
ready always, with meekness, to give an answer to him 
that asketh a reason for his hope and obedience, but he 
ought to know how, when it becomes necessary, to 
vindicate his faith and to fix the sin of disobedience and 
heresy upon those who have changed the ordinances of 
the Gospel. "I have not troubled Israel, but thou and 
thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the com- 
mandments of the Lord." This was the sin of Ahab 
and his family. He and they had been guilty of other 
iniquities ; but the sin which had provoked Jehovah to 



Elijah's Faith and Defect. 297 

scourge them and the whole kingdom with famine, was 
their having forsaken his precepts ; and this is the sin 
which now causes God to be angry with his people, and 
to send upon them a sorer curse— a spiritual famine. 
This is the sin against which, at this day, we should cry 
aloud and spare not ; and if the consequence be that 
there is controversy, the fault is not ours, it rests upon 
those who " have forsaken the commandments of the 
Lord." 

"The righteous is bold as a lion." Far more than 
this. The Scriptures declare, not only that God " has 
not given us the spirit of fear," but that he has given 
us " the spirit of power ;" and in the termination of this 
interview between Ahab and Elijah we have a most 
remarkable illustration of the power with which God's 
ministers are invested, when they are jealous only for 
Christ, and do not mistake their own selfish passions for 
zeal, as the apostles did when they pleaded the example 
of Elijah, and drew upon themselves that stern rebuke, 
" Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of." The 
king had sent through all his realm emissaries who were 
to drag the prophet to execution. Now he not only 
stands awed before the calm, earnest eyes which are 
settled upon him, but he finds himself spell-bound, and 
compelled by a mysterious influence to obey the voice 
which commands him to " send and gather all Israel 
unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal, four 
hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the grove four 
hundred which eat at Jezebel's table." 

To this vast and august assembly let us now repair, 
that we may behold the glory of the Lord, and the 
awful interposition by which he vindicates his servant 
before all the people and overwhelms with contempt and 
destruction the pampered sycophants who — as the high 
priests of a profligate, though imposing idolatry — lorded 
it alike over the populace, the aristocracy, and the 
throne. 

The scene is very sublime. Although the name 
Carmel belongs to a range of mountains, yet here, and 
generally in the Scriptures, it designates a lofty pro- 
montory, some fifteen hundred feet high, on the shores 



298 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



of the Mediterranean Sea. So rich in fertility was this 
mountain, and so grand was the prospect on every side 
from its summit, that the imagination even of Isaiah 
could find no nobler image by which to portray the 
fuller glory of Christ's kingdom, than " the excellency 
of Carmel and of Sharon." Upon the commanding 
table-land on the top of Carmel are gathered the king, 
his princes, the prophets of Baal and all the people of 
Israel. Far away to the South stretches the once luxur- 
iant plain of Sharon, now scorched and desolate. To the 
North and in the distance, Lebanon rears in pomp and 
majesty its azure peaks, now no longer decked with snow. 
While to the West, leaving the foot of the mountain, 
and spreading out to the horizon like a sea of glass 
sleep the blue waters,. as if they too, were stagnant and 
withering under the torrid heat which parches all the 
land. The entire panorama — the purple haze, the sultry, 
dreary stillness, mountain, desert, hill, vale, headlands, 
waters — is eloquent of other days, and might well hum- 
ble the nation in the dust as they contrast their past 
glory with their present degradation. 

While such thoughts are perhaps passing in the minds 
of the multitude, and while they are enquiring the cause 
of this sudden proclamation, a man is seen ascending 
the eminence. He is alone and wears the simple habit 
of a pilgrim, but there is that in his look and bearing — 
a serene dignity and authority — which instantly stills 
the murmur of that immense audience, and inspires feel- 
ings of wonder, admiration, fear, as they gaze reverently 
upon him. 

Looking at this magnificent spectacle, observe first, 
the prophet's expostulation with Israel. Occupying a 
lofty stand near an altar once erected to the true God 
and now broken down — a ruin hallowed by so many 
touching memories — he takes no notice of the king or of 
the priests of Baal who are incorrigible — but, turning to 
the people, he says, "How long halt ye between two 
opinions ? If the Lord be God, follow him, but if Baal, 
then follow him," This was then the sin of Israel. The 
court and the prophets were decided in their idolatry ; 
but the people still nourished some fear of the Lord, 



Elijah's Faith and Defect. 299 

while they served graven images. And if a preacher, 
with the spirit of Elijah, were now to visit this land, 
tell me, is not this the very sin which he would con- 
demn? Half-heartedness ; vacillation; serving God and 
mammon ; devotion, hymns, prayers on the Sabbath and 
in the sanctuary, but souls utterly carnal during the 
week and in the world — is not this inconsistent, half 
and half religion the most conspicuous feature in our 
churches at this day ? It is of this very spirit Jesus 
says, "I would thou wert either cold or hot." Strange; 
for is not even lukewarmness better than utter worldli- 
ness? Understand what Jesus thus abhors. It is a 
professed devotion to him while the affections are devoted 
to the world. And this pretended respect is worse than 
the absence of all reverence ; more sure to deceive our 
souls by hollow semblances and to injure the cause of 
Christ in the eyes of men. Nor upon any sin is con- 
science more severe than it is as to this mockery. It is 
said here that when Elijah uttered this expostulation, 
" the people answered him not a word." And just so it is 
now. When God makes this charge, we have not a word 
to answer; our own consciences confirm it and we are 
like the man found among the king's guests at the mar- 
riage supper who "was speechless/' — having not a word 
to say for himself and no one having a word to say for 
him. 

And if this double-mindedness is common among the 
professed Israel of God, it is still more common among 
those, who, sitting under a faithful ministry, have, from 
their childhood, known the truth ; who are awakened, 
convicted, almost persuaded to be Christians ; but who 
still hesitate and lull their consciences by some fatal 
compromise; who, in fact, halt, not between two opin- 
ions, but between their most settled opinions and that 
conduct to which those opinions ought long since to have 
brought them. And now how glaring is this folly. — 
Such persons have not a word to answer, when we reason 
with them and press them to come to some determination 
upon a subject of such infinite importance. They know 
that Jesus requires them to follow him, that a choice is 
all which is left, that they will never be in a more favor- 



300 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

able condition for making this choice, that not to decide 
is really to decide against God ; and yet they equivocate, 
they resist calls, warnings, instructions, entreaties, until 
God shall justly refuse them any further opportunity, 
until by his unalterable sentence he shall decide the 
case for them, and cause them to know the value of an 
interest in Christ when it is too late for them to secure it. 

Ee turning to Carmel, you remember the challenge which 
— standing alone, but armed with celestial strength — the 
man of God openly gives to the whole college of Baal's 
prophets ; how, by acclamation, the people approve the ap- 
peal to sacrifice and fire; and how vainly those prophets slay 
their victim, how they cry aloud to their god, and how, 
in the fury and phrensy of disappointment, they leap 
frantically upon their altar and lacerate their bodies as if 
to compel Baal to come to the rescue of his worshippers. 
Such was their god ; a miserable deity who hears them 
not, when they cry in their distress. 

And such are all the idols to which the children of this 
world are constantly building altars and immolating 
their souls. Let them be put to the test. Let the hour 
of affliction, sickness, death approach, and what are they 
worth ? Vainly do their votaries then cry to them for 
help and consolation. They then confess the deceitful- 
ness of their confidences, then, "their rock is not as our 
rock,'our enemies themselves being judges." 

While the priests of Baal were performing these orgies, 
we are told that Elijah " mocked them, and said, Cry 
aloud; for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is 
pursuing, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he 
sleepeth and must be awakened." But do not misunder- 
stand this conduct. Eidicule and sarcasm are not the 
proper weapons for a servant of God. There was reason 
in the prophet's irony; it was a stem denunciation of 
the gross materialism of the pagan systems. In the myth- 
ology, not only of barbarians but of the most refined 
nations, the deities were really supposed to be confined 
to space, to eat, and sleep, and proceed on journeys. — 
It was about noon when Elijah thus taunted the priests, 
and his mocking only wrought into madness the violence 
of their incantations, 



Elijah's Faith and Defect. 301 

Discomfited, covered with dismay and confusion, the 
prophets of Baal abandoned their conjurations at the 
hour of the evening sacrifice — about three o'clock in the 
afternoon ; — and it was now Elijah's turn. No effort of 
the imagination is required to make us feel what were 
the emotions of the spectators at this critical moment, 
or what suspense, anxiety, hope, fear, must have agitated 
the souls of Obadiah and of all those who still rever- 
enced Jehovah in their hearts. If he shall succeed, 
then the truth will be vindicated, and the God of their 
fathers be again worshipped in Israel. But if he shall 
fail, the confidence, the consolation to which they 
secretly cling are gone, and the faith of Abraham and 
Isaac and Jacob is forever dishonored. Whatever 
apprehensions and misgivings may have palpitated in the 
bosoms and flushed the countenance of others, there 
were none in the soul of Elijah. The word fail was 
not in his vocabulary. Instead of being intimidated by 
difficulties, he multiplies them by causing his altar and 
sacrifice to be again and again drenched with water. 

And what I have said of our prophet is always true of 
faith, which knows no such word as failure ; which, 
linking our weakness to God's almightiness, welcomes 
difficulties, courts obstacles, and — with a confidence of 
victory which is victory — reposes exultingly in a Saviour 
who has always caused his glory to emerge from the 
thickest darkness, who will never disappoint our trust, 
but will vindicate his truth in the face of all his foes. 

While the prophet is preparing his offering, and dur- 
ing his fervent supplications, every eye is riveted upon 
him ; not a whisper is heard ; the very air is mute with 
expectation. But not long does this suspense continue. 
Scarcely has the prayer ceased, when, streaming from 
heaven, dazzling the vision of that mighty concourse, a 
fiery flood rushes down upon the altar and devours the 
burnt sacrifice — consuming the wood, and the stones, 
and the dust, and licking up the water that is in the 
trench. To this arbitrament all the people had ap- 
pealed; and most awfully does Jehovah answer this 
appeal and assert his faithfulness. But what permanent 
influence did even such a phenomenon exert ? It only 



302 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

furnished another demonstration of the Saviour's declar- 
ation, that if the ordinary means of grace fail to convert 
men, no miracle will be effectual. 

So conclusive, so appalling was this display of divine 
power and glory, that all were convinced, the altars of 
Baal were overthrown, the priests of a miserable super- 
stition were destroyed, and the people, falling on their 
faces, exclaimed, " The Lord he is God, the Lord he is 
God." But how long did all this last ? Such a vindi- 
cation of the truth, such a direct awful manifestation — 
surely it will reclaim the people from their idolatry and 
reinstate the God of Israel in their affection and homage. 
No, even this interposition produces no lasting effect. 
Their seeming piety lacked one thing; and that one 
thing was the heart. Their devotions were the spasms 
of excited feelings; and spasms occur only in an un- 
healthy state of the system ; and must be transient. 
The multitudes soon return to the city, to the court, to 
their old pursuits, their business, their cares, their 
pleasures. All the solemn vows on Carmel are forgotten , 
and their goodness evaporates as the morning cloud and 
as the early dew which passeth away. 

II. It is sad enough, my brethren, to know that the 
influence of such a scene should have been thus tran- 
sient upon the people. But scarcely do we begin to 
lament their relapse, when we are called to mourn over 
an object far more deplorable, I mean the defection of 
Elijah himself. What, indeed, is man ? Can it be the 
same Peter that yesterday bravely exclaimed, " If I 
should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise," 
who now, with oaths and blasphemies, protests, "I know 
not this man of whom ye speak ?" Is it the same 
Thomas that intrepidly summoned his fellow apostles 
with these words, " Let us also go that we may die with 
him," who now cravenly and recreantly abandons his 
faith and hope ? Such inconsistencies in apostolic men 
astonish us ; but I know no delinquency in a grand, 
heroic nature so mortifying as that betrayed in the flight 
and utter despondency of the prophet immediately after 
such glorious victories. 



Elijah's Faith and Defect. 303 



For my part, when I read the whole narrative, I feel 
that there never were so many causes combined to give 
illustration to God's faithfulness, and to consolidate a 
faith, a resolution absolutely immovable. What more 
could Jehovah have done for Elijah ? Is he hungry ? 
the birds of the air are made to cater for him. Do the 
poor widow's oil and meal fail ? They are miraculously 
multiplied. Does his hostess mourn for her dead child ? 
He is restored to life. Does the enraged tyrant pursue 
him ? God himself conceals and protects him. Add to 
all this the commanding supremacy which domineers so 
grandly over the king, the august series of victories on 
Carmel ; and now — fire having obeyed his voice, the 
heavens which, as a prince with God, he had turned 
into brass for three years, at his intercession loosen their 
treasures and pour refreshing torrents upon the earth. 
After all this can Elijah be afraid? Can he fear what 
man can do unto him ? Alas, the disgraceful record 
is before us, and exhibits a weakness, a pusillanimity as 
dishonoring to God as it is dishonorable to him. 

Had I time I would speak here of the influence of a 
wife over her husband. If it be for good, the apostle 
declares that she can win him when all other influences 
are despised. But if for evil, see the baleful con- 
sequences here. Ahab had been convinced, he was deep- 
ly moved and almost persuaded ; but Jezebel dissipates 
all his good resolves, shames him out of them, and com- 
pels him to lend his power to her vindictive cruelty. It 
was before a woman's accusations that the boldness of 
Peter quailed; and now the lion-hearted Elijah is so 
terrified by the threats of a woman, that he flees for his 
life into the desert, and cries for death in a burst of 
bitterness and despondency. "And when he saw that, 
he arose and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba 
which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, 
and came and sat down under a juniper tree. And he 
requested for himself that he might die ; and said — It is 
enough ; now Lord, take away my life ; for I am not 
better than my fathers." What a change a few hours 
have wrought in this Tishbite ! Look at the picture we 
ii 13* 



304 Richard Puller's Sermons. 

have before drawn of him ; and now look at this. Could 
any imagination have portrayed such a contrast ? Had 
Obadiah met him under that tree, he might well have 
exclaimed, "Art thou my lord Elijah?" Nor let us 
only look; the spectacle is full of instruction for us all. 

" Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are ;" 
and we are men subject to the same passions and infirmi- 
ties by which he was overcome. Let us, then, not be 
surprised if, at times, we sink into dejection and find 
our hearts cast down within us. In all his great charac- 
teristic traits, John the Baptist so strikingly resembled 
our prophet, that it was declared he should go forth "in 
the spirit and power of Elijah ;" yet in his lonely prison 
he finds his elasticity broken and his faith borne down 
for a season. We talk of faith ; and when it is in vigor- 
ous exercise, we may well exult in it as the sublimest 
element of human character. But whether the cause 
be physical, or moral, or intellectual — there can be no 
humiliation more deep and substantial than that of 
knowing by experience that mysterious changes come 
over us — sometimes most suddenly — and cause us to re- 
semble the father who, " cried out and said with tears, 
Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief." 

In attempting to analyze the prophet's conduct and to 
account for the strange reaction in his experience, I 
think it is easy to see that one reason must be found in 
the mortification of his spiritual pride. Conscious of 
his high and heavenly credentials, inspired only by 
jealousy for God's honor, he had defied the king, shivered 
the idolatrous shrines, and stood before the people as the 
mighty vicegerent of Israel's God. But, as when Paul 
had been caught up into heaven, a sense of this glorious 
distinction tempted him to elation — so here, uncon- 
sciously, there insinuated itself into the mind of Elijah 
a sense of his own greatness, and he expects this great- 
ness to be acknowledged by all. The king and his 
nobles will honor a ministry so irresistible ; at least all 
the people will flock to him and rejoice to do homage to 
a true prophet. Instead of this, the monarch and his 
satraps have left him and retired to their palaces, and 
the populace, whose acclamations had rent the air, prove 



Elijah's Faith and Defect. 305 

how fickle and hollow are their applauses. He finds 
himself seemingly left " alone" and exposed to the ven- 
geance of an unrelenting woman whose queenly power, 
always imperial in that obsequious and licentious court, 
is now supreme, because her rage is seconded by the 
secret malignity of the pride and superstition which had 
been so publicly abased and exposed. He had antici- 
pated the suffrage of the majority ; but finding himself 
thus disappointed, his spirit sinks and his strength fails. 

Let us learn wisdom from his folly. It is hard to 
work on for God w r here we are alone in the work. Con- 
scious that we are maintaining Christ's truth, we become 
impatient and discouraged if that truth does not at once 
assert its majesty and win the multitude to the Lord's 
side. But w r hen in this fallen planet, w T as the majority 
ever on the side of truth ? The majority ! Yes, the 
majority are on God's side. Ye angels and archangels, 
ye spirits of the just made perfect, ye cherubim and 
seraphim, ye are the " innumerable company," compared 
with whom all the gathered multitudes of this nation, of 
all kingdoms and nations are only as the small dust of 
the balance. But here, on this earth, prophets, apostles, 
the Saviour himself, still had to stretch out their bands 
to a wicked and gainsaying world. Let us not, then, be 
ever disheartened. It is for the trial of our faith, of our 
loyalty to Christ and his cause, that we are thus called 
to pray, and wrestle, and fight without human succor. 
It is that we may learn to say, " My soul, wait thou only 
upon God, for my expectation is from him." It is, that 
raising our thoughts above this earth, we maybe " fol- 
lowers of them who through faith and patience inherit 
the promises ;" that our eyes may catch the eyes of that 
cloud of witnesses who compass us about ; — above all, 
that we may run with patience the race set before us, 
looking unto Jesus, who hath summoned us to engage 
for him, whose strength shall be made perfect in our 
weakness, and who will crown us with glory, honor, im- 
mortality, beyond the skies. 

But it was not only the want of co-operation and suc- 
cess which caused this iron-souled herald thus suddenly 
to succumb. Elijah felt as if he was wholly without 



306 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

sympathy ; and this is the deepest, darkest, most crush- 
ing sense of lonesomeness. Strange as it may seem, it is, 
my brethren, not the less true, that — while gentler 
spirits will toil on, and suffer on uncomplainingly in the 
great battle of life — those who are most self-confident, 
who appear most independent of human approbation or 
censure, are the very persons who break down most un- 
expectedly and sink into utter despair when, in some 
dreadful conflict, there comes in bitterly upon them the 
consciousness which all, the strong and the feeble, must 
feel sooner or later, that the human spirit cannot live 
alone, nor suffer alone, nor fight alone. He" trod the 
wine-press alone." But He was more than man. 

I will add only one other remark — a remark which 
cannot too often be urged upon us all. It is that in his 
panic, Elijah abandoned God's work, and thus unnerved 
all his strength and involved his soul in gloom and mis- 
ery. " The joy of the Lord is your strength ;" but 
strength is not for the supine, it is for those who are 
earnestly at work. In the world we see this connection 
between industry and a hopeful buoyant temper. No 
matter how poor they may be, how constant their labor, 
the most cheerful people — if not overtasked — are those 
who are strenuously plying their daily business. Among 
them you hear the laugh and the song. The melancholy, 
the dejected, the whining are the indolent. It is to these, 
though rich and prosperous, that life often seems to be 
only a blank, dreary waste, and death a door of escape. 

And in the economy of grace this rule is still more 
universal. Here, in more senses than one, " faith without 
works is dead." It is only while we are actively engaged 
for God — feeling that we live but when we are about our 
Father's business, that all earthly aims are comparatively 
mean, that human interests, hopes, joys, affections, sor- 
rows are passing away, but that earnest work done for God 
abides forever — it is only then that we are armed with a 
faith which quells every rising doubt, and that, by all 
the laws of God and our own spiritual existence, health 
comes from exercise, and difficulties and discouragements 
invigorate the powers and purposes of the soul. 



Elijah's Faith and Defect 307 

As we contemplate the faith, the energy, the zeal, the 
majestic conflicts and triumphs of the prophet, we in- 
stinctively exclaim with Elisha, " Where is the Lord God 
of Elijah ?" Why do we not witness the same spirit, the 
same glorious victories now ? Souls are perishing around 
us, the truth is assailed and despised, the whole land is 
given to idolatry, and we are powerless. The means we 
employ are indeed of divine appointment, but how inef- 
ficient they prove and must forever prove without the di- 
vine agency. "Look down from heaven and behold from 
the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory, where is 
thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels 
and of thy mercies ? Are they restrained ?" 0, if Eli- 
jah's God would manifest his power, with what confidence 
and courage would we devote ourselves to the cause of 
truth, what grand results should we witness, what illus- 
trious achievements would rejoice our hearts. 

Let us remember that Elijah's God was with him only 
while he was occupied in noble and effectual services. — 
When thus engaged, he exulted in the conscious majesty 
of a life which had upon it the stamp and signature of a 
divine power. No sooner does he yield to discouragement 
and quit his arduous post, than he is shorn of strength 
and glory, and under a cowardly sense of weakness, cries 
out in anguish for death to relieve him from the forlorn 
life-struggle. 

"And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life." 
" Saw that." Before, his look had been upward, exchang- 
ing glances with God, and seeing only the presence and 
faithfulness of Jehovah ; now his eyes are upon the perils 
and discouragements around him. Guard your souls 
against these unbelieving fears. Look ever upward and 
your motto will be, " I have set the Lord always before 
me, because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved." 

We are immortal until our work is done. While here, 
God means that we shall do and suffer and sacrifice for 
him ; and never should that craven language be ours, 
" It is enough, now Lord, take away my life ;" — enough 
of temptation, enough of disappointment, enough of fears 



308 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

within and fightings without, enough — too much of sor- 
row and darkness, and clouds and storms. No, no. It 
is not enough. Not enough in us; the work there is not 
yet as perfect as it must be. Not enough for us ; God 
designs to show us still greater things, more of his power 
and faithfulness and love. Not enough by us ; God has 
more work which he means us to do that his truth may 
be vindicated, and a far more exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory be ours. 

Elijah! ah, with too much reason — even when com- 
memorating the mighty acts of this princeliest among 
the seers— does the apostle remind us, that " Elijah was 
a man subject to like passions as we are." Let us cease 
from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is 
he to be accounted of? and let us turn to Him who alone 
is worthy to be our example. If we must encounter en- 
mity and persecution from men, let us " consider him 
who endured such contradiction of sinners against him- 
self, lest we weary and faint in our minds." If alone, 
without human succor or sympathy, we must bear the 
trial which not even those nearest to us can know,* and 
endure the sorrow with which neither stranger nor friend 
intermeddleth, and triumph in the strife which tempts 
us to yearn for a morrow that may set us free ; let us 
consider him who said to those whom he so tenderly 
loved, " Ye shall leave me alone, and yet I am not alone, 
because the Father is with me." In a word, whatever 
the discouragement, the inward, central sinking of heart 
and soul, let us corroborate our energies by still "looking 
unto Jesus," to him who—during all that wayworn pil- 
grimage which made him a man of sorrows and acquaint- 
ed with grief, and even in those mysterious hours when 
it pleased the Father to bruise and afflict and forsake 
him — never faltered in his faith, never shrank from duty, 
pain, danger, sacrifice; who longed indeed for death, but 
for the death of the cross ; yearned, not for the moment 
when he should be released and a chariot of fire should 
waft him upwards to glory, but for that hour of sore and 
solitary agony when he should make " his soul on offering 
for sin," — for the austere glory of that bloody baptism in 



Elijah's Faith and Defect. 



309 



which he would finish the work of atonement upon earth, 
and emerging from which, he would ascend to live for- 
ever, our faithful Friend, our sympathizing High Priest, 
our all-prevailing Intercessor in heaven. 




310 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



Set* most Seventeenth 



"LORD, TO WHOM SHALL 
WE GO ?" 

"Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast 
the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure, that thou art 
that Christ, the Son of the living God."— John vi : 68, 69. 

u nrO whom shall we go ?" The life of every man and 
-A- woman is a search: and the inquiry in this text is 
the vernacular, though inarticulate cry of the human 
heart everywhere over this fallen earth. The many, 
with reversed aspirations, are ever bowing down to lying 
vanities, saying, ' k Who will shew us any good?" and 
the illusiveness of their restless pursuit after happiness 
has been the theme of moralists, philosophers, poets. — 
But there are who have found the true guide to rest 
and peace, (whom until it finds, the very freedom of the 
human spirit is a burden and bondage,) and they turn to 
Jesus, exclaiming, " Lord to whom shall we go but unto 
thee ? thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe 
and are sure that thou art that Christ the Son of the 
living God." 

Time was when cavillers loved to sharpen their wit 
upon a religion which ascribes so much to faith. Now, 
however, it is in this very peculiarity that profound 
thinkers discover the divine wisdom of the Gospel,— 
of a system which insists upon faith as essential to the 
true development of our nature. For life, as I have just 
remarked, is a search ; but a search supposes faith in the 
thing sought. The student trimming his midnight 



" Lord, to whom shall we go f" 311 

lamp; the poet burning with thick-coming inspirations ; 
the artist patiently moulding the plastic marble ; or 
kindling the eloquent canvass ; the navigator battling 
with storms, and bending his harassed form, day after 
day, and night after night, over the prow of his ship as 
he peers into the distance for some glimpse of an undis- 
covered land ; — all these, and all others who aim at noble 
achievements are men of faith ; they believe in something 
beyond the realms of present knowledge, something to be 
revealed. In appealing to faith, therefore, the Gospel 
not only recognizes an element in our nature without 
which religion cannot exist at all, but, by consecrating 
that element, by proposing immortal happiness, it meets 
all the infinite capacity of our being, unfolding our 
minds, calling into full exercise our noblest powers, 
exalting, purifying, rejoicing the soul by hopes and 
assurances full of brightness and glory. 

I. When Peter uttered the language of the text he 
spoke then, not only for himself and his fellow disciples, 
but for our common humanity. "Eternal life," — this is 
the great truth which glowed in the apostle's bosom; 
and this is the great want of our nature, a w r ant the 
very consciousness of which is an assurance of man's 
spirituality and immortality. 

A moment's reflection will make you feel that outward 
objects of loveliness affect us with pleasure, because 
there are types and tastes in our own hearts correspond- 
ing to them. And in the soul are capacities and yearn- 
ings, though dim, yet most real, which at once proclaim 
its native sympathy with the life and immortality re- 
vealed by the Gospel. In the very organization of our 
nature there are deep mysterious beliefs, hopes, long- 
ings after eternal life, which are wholly unintelligible 
without the Gospel. 

Human ingenuity has constructed arguments to dis- 
prove the existence of matter; but that we think, will, 
compare, choose, — in short, that we are endowed with 
spiritual faculties, — this is a truth within our conscious- 
ness, which no one has ever denied. Should a philoso- 
pher attempt to assail this fact, it would be demonstrated 



312 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

by the very power of the reasoning employed against it. 
Jesus never supposes that man can really doubt the ex- 
istence of an immortal principle within him; he con- 
stantly and confidently addresses himself to our in- 
stinctive consciousness as to this point. And, now, 
when we look in upon the soul, we feel at once its im- 
measurable superiority to the body. The contrast is 
most striking between material forms, — so sluggish in 
themselves, so closely allied to earth — so speedily con- 
founded with the common dust, and the magnificent, 
imperial intellect, soaring into eternity, triumphing 
when the body is prostrated by disease and dissolving in 
death. 

In the soul, too, are the deepest sources of joy and 
wretchedness. And all these noble faculties,— these 
hopes and aspirations, these capacities for knowledge, 
purity, happiness, misery, are not, cannot be perfectly 
expanded in this life ; they are plainly intended for 
another, an immortal existence. 

The being of God is the first great truth folded up in 
our very constitution. Next to this is the immortality 
of the soul. When it is said, Jesus " hath brought life 
and immortality to light through the Gospel," it is not 
meant that a new truth has been revealed, but — in his 
own words — that he " bore witness to the truth, 7 ' that 
the voice within us has been rendered clear and authori- 
tative by a voice from heaven, and that a doctrine which 
before had exerted little influence, now stands disclosed 
as the strongest motive to holiness, and as a source of 
unspeakable consolation. A man cannot help knowing 
that he is a rational being, because he is conscious of the 
exercise of reason ; and just so the conviction of his im- 
mortality springs irresistibly from the instincts in his 
own bosom. This interior sense of a higher — an eternal 
existence is really more conclusive than the voice of an 
angel, yea, than the voice of God himself could be, if 
there were no such testimony in ourselves. Suppose 
such a declaration made to one of the brute creation, 
would it awaken any idea of a future life? could it 
possibly be comprehended ? For my own part, when I 
find the Gospel so accurately adjusted to this inward 



" Lord, to whom shall ive go ? " 313 

teaching, and the intimations in the soul responding so 
promptly to the Gospel, I rejoice in a certainty which 
nothing can shake, both of the truth of Christianity 
and of the spiritual, eternal life to which I am destined. 
And, now, if after death I am to enter upon such an 
existence, how infinitely important it is for me to obtain 
full information as to its character; whether it will be 
an immortality of sorrow or of joy; and by what prepar- 
ation I may be rescued from that misery, and make that 
happiness mine. 

And this irrepressible anticipation of an endless life 
is accompanied by another fact equally within our con- 
sciousness, from which it is impossible to escape, and 
which is fearfully portentous. Wherever humanity is 
diffused, there is also diffused a sense of sin and of ex- 
posure to the just penalty of transgression. If the tree, 
is known by its fruits, then man's conduct furnishes the 
most appalling testimony of man's depravity. Our 
nature is plainly not such as it must have come from the 
hand of its Maker, but is morally degraded, stained with 
guilt, and under the dominion of passions, appetites, 
habits, the main strength of which is in direct hostility 
to God's government. Philosophers overlook this radi- 
cal disorder, and hence the utter worthlessness of their 
fine speculations about humanity. For this perversity 
of a depraved nature is a matter of painful experience. 
We are pressed not only by the remembrance of acts of 
sin, but by the consciousness of sin, — of sin itself, as a 
principle so pervading and powerful that the Holy 
Spirit calls it "the laic" (that is, the controlling force) 
"of sin and death;" a law which reigns in every unre- 
newed heart, and which is unconquerable by any strength 
of ours. The slightest reflection on the malignity of 
sin must convince us, too, that, if God be just, holy, or 
true, it must be infinitely hateful to him, and he must 
punish it. K~or will the consequences of sin be ex- 
hausted here ; we feel that they will go with us into 
eternity. 

Unthinking cavillers sometimes urge man's sinfulness 
as a proof of his littleness, and, therefore, as an argu- 
ment against the doctrine of his immortality ; but the 



314 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

reverse of this is the conclusion of sound reasoning. 
Man's sin is an evidence of his greatness ; for it is the 
result of his moral freedom. And his conscious guilt 
proclaims his immortality. It is an inward revelation 
and reverberation of those solemn announcements, " We 
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to 
give account of the deeds done in the body." " It is ap- 
pointed unto men once to die, and after that the judg- 
ment." 

Looking at the words of Peter, we perceive, at once, 
that he speaks for those who have forfeited eternal life, 
and must find it, if at all, somewhere out of themselves. 
" To whom shall we go ?" We have it not in our- 
selves, and must go to some one who can give it back to 
us. And the consciousness of this loss haunts the 
human spirit, dimly it may be, but most ominously. 
The existence of God is, as I have said, an original 
truth found in the very structure of the soul. But the 
idea of God involves a belief in his moral perfections. 
]STor can any sophistry evade the conviction that be- 
tween our character and his holiness, there is a contrast 
which severs us from all vital union with him, and that 
to be banished from him is spiritual death. 

I will only add that this conscious estrangement from 
God must fill every thoughtful mind with concern and 
alarm, not only because it is an unnatural and horrible 
crime, but because, separated from its true centre, the 
soul is despoiled of all light and happiness, and 
abaudoned to darkness and misery. We cannot retire 
within our own nature without feeling that our satisfy- 
ing good must be found, not in ourselves, but in some- 
thing out of us, in something congenial to our spirits, 
and capable of communicating purity and love and 
happiness to our souls. This something is God. He 
and he only can diffuse light into our minds, peace into 
our consciences, joy into our spirits. Our present and 
everlasting felicity must consist in the favor of that 
supreme spiritual Being who is the " Father of our 
spirits." To be alienated from him is to be cut off from 
the essential, original element of holiness and life. It is 
to be "dead in trespasses and sins " now; and what a 



" Lord, to whom shall ice go f " 315 

prospect beyond the grave. To be in the world per- 
petually in contact with such a Being, entirely depend- 
ent upon him, and yet at enmity with him, — this thought 
is fearful. What, then, to go into eternity, and to be 
there alone with this mighty and awful Spirit, having 
no affinity w 7 ith him but that of hatred, this will be 
eternal death, " everlasting destruction from the presence 
of the Lord," a calamity which no finite power can 
comprehend, and at the bare possibility of w T hich the 
mind becomes agitated, frightened, terrified. 

II. You see, then, that Peter's inquiry is really the au- 
thentic language of our common humanity, a painful 
cry of the soul conscious of immortality, pressed by a 
sense of sin and bereavement, and yearning for a religion 
which meets these deep importunate necessities. I pass 
now to a second proposition suggested by the text, and 
affirm that until he comes to Jesus, man must find only 
a cruel mockery in all the systems which have been, or 
can be contrived to satisfy these wants. " This is life 
eternal that they might know thee the only true God, 
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." "I am come 
that they might have life, and that they might have it 
more abundantly." "I give unto them eternal life." — 
" He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." 
" The gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ 
our Lord." 

Those who speak of natural religion as sufficient for 
man forget entirely the change which has taken place in 
man's condition. Whether in his normal state such a 
religion would have been adequate to his exigencies, I 
do not now enquire. It is certain that humanity is in an 
abnormal, unnatural state. It resembles a piece of ma- 
chinery finished in exquisite perfection, but which has 
been so ruined by the shock of a fall, that the springs 
have lost all elasticity, the wheels will not revolve, or 
they turn with reversed and disastrous force. Xor can 
reason do anything to rectify defects so radical. The 
religion of nature may teach "the eternal power and 
Godhead" of Jehovah, but it knows nothing of that 
salvation for which the soul yearns. Hence the remark- 



316 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



able fact that, without the religion of Jesus, all nations 
seek to appease their deities by sacrifices, but none are 
found to cherish toward them any sentiment of gratitude 
or love. 

The question "To whom shall we go?" implies that 
substitutes for the Gospel may be proposed. The exam- 
ination of these substitutes would conduct us into a yery 
wide field ; but it would be a waste of time to enter upon 
such an investigation. To man, as we have just described 
him, the matter is plainly reduced to a single alternative. 
For such a being, it is Christ or nothing; the Gospel or 
no religion at all. 

Shut up this Volume. There, I have closed the Book. 
I put it aside thus. Let it remain there for a moment. 
We have no Bible open before us. And now I ask, by 
what light can reason and philosophy repair such a be- 
reavement? "Eternal life" means, of course, something 
more than endless duration. In the Scriptures the im- 
port of that phrase is, everlasting glory and blessedness. 
But between guilty man and such a life there plainly is 
a great gulf fixed; and where can a child of Adam find 
a single ray of hope, while the great atonement by Jesus 
is unknown to him ? Can sinners against God be saved 
at all ? If so, how ? Will the Supreme Being pardon 
sin? If so, how can forgiveness be reconciled with his 
justice? Salvation by our works is evidently a ruined 
scheme. If the divine mercy should raise guilty crea- 
tures to such glory at the expense of the divine righteous- 
ness, the whole economy of Justice would be demolished, 
and the moral governor of the universe would be only a 
weak, imbecile being, who suffers his laws to be dishon- 
ored, and rebellious creatures to triumph over him, to 
strip him of his prerogatives, and to force him to submit 
to the terms they dictate. 

Besides, man is not only guilty but utterly corrupt- 
How can he be made holy ? " Who can bring a clean 
thing out of an unclean?" There is, too, a mutual 
alienation between God and man ; how can this breach 
be healed ? Must not the justice and holiness of God 
exclude these enemies from all intercourse with him ? 
How then can they be exalted to the enjoyment of his 



" Lord, to whom shall we go ? '* 317 

love, of an intercourse and communion intimate and 
eternal ? 

Anxiously, how anxiously — vainly, how vainly does 
the mind revolve these questions. Eeason confesses 
that all is dark and portentous. Conscience returns an 
answer still more dreary. God alone can solve these 
problems. Will he ever solve them ? Will he not con- 
vey some communication to man as to these subjects ? 

Even if the soul were mortal, would he leave so mag- 
nificent a spirit to live and die an utter stranger to the 
great original Spirit ? But the soul is immortal ; will 
he impart to it no information as to its everlasting desti- 
ny? Fallen, the soul is and guilty; yet how noble in 
its ruins, how earnestly pining for instruction as to its 
ruin and some method by which its purity and glory 
may be retrieved. 0, that he would vouchsafe some 
answer, some message to these inner, central, imploring 
cries for light. For without direct intelligence from 
him, all the mind most passionately yearns to know 
must continue wrapped in impenetrable obscurity. " To 
whom shall we go?" Eeason confesses that this know- 
ledge is too lofty for her. The Height says, It is not in 
me ; the Depth says, It is not in me. Nature, Philoso- 
phy, Science exclaim, What you seek is not in us, it is 
in God alone. And God is silent. " 0, that I knew 
where I might find him, that I might come even to his 
seat." But he conceals himself behind clouds and dark- 
ness. Though I call he will not answer, nor give ear to 
my supplications. 

Such is man's dismal condition while the Bible is 
shut. Well might John " weep much because no man 
was found worthy to open the book and loosen the seals 
thereof" — Now, open the Bible — that Volume which the 
Lamb that was slain has unsealed. There, I have 
spread its pages before you, and what heavenly radiance 
at once floods the soul and dissipates all the gloomy 
darkness in which it had been enveloped. No wonder 
that John saw all heaven in commotion and rapture at 
the unfolding of the glorious Gospel of the Son of God. 
" And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy 



318 Richard Puller's Sermons * 

to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou 
wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood." 
Silent ! — no, my brethren, God is not silent. He has 
sent not only a message, but a messenger to teach us our 
future destiny ; not only a messenger but a Saviour, and 
that Saviour his own Son. " God so loved the world, 
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
lieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life." " I am the way, and the truth, and the life." 
Doubts, fears, perplexities are dispelled. " Thou hast 
the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure 
that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God;" 
— such was the triumphant assurance of Peter; and 
such is the exulting exclamation of all who know Jesus, 
in whom it pleases God to reveal this glorious Eedeemer. 

III. And this brings me to the last truth suggested 
by the language of our Apostle. I refer to the perfect 
confidence with which he reposes in the Saviour and in 
eternal life through him. 

This full assurance we at once feel, is something 
higher than any intellectual perception at which we may 
arrive by arguments drawn from the Scripture doctrine of 
salvation by Christ alone. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear 
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the 
things which God hath prepared for them that love him, 
but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit." — 
These are the things of Christ. They are for " them 
that love God." But perception is not love. The senses 
have their proper province. The reason reaches convic- 
tion by logical deduction. The heart comprehends more 
clearly than the senses or the reason, when the objects 
belong to the affections; and the truths which cause the 
soul to repose with perfect delight in Jesus are the intui- 
tions, the experiences of the heart. As we are sure that 
the sun shines because we see its radiance and feel its 
genial warmth, so the Gospel finds its authentication in 
the light and joy which it sheds into the renewed heart. 
Hear me upon this point. 

There is, indeed, a sense in which the truths of revela- 
tion come to all with a self-evidencing power. " The 



" Lord, to wham shall we go ? " 319 

grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared 
unto all men." "The true light lighteth every man 
that cometh into the world." And such is this light 
that if a man does not see it, we can account for his 
blindness only by ascribing it to supernatural agency. 
" If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost ; 
in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds 
of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious 
Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine 
unto them." I have already said that, without a revela- 
tion, the wisdom of man could never have originated the 
things which the Spirit of God teaches; but there may 
be a capacity to verify truths which we could not have 
discovered. Indeed in listening to any teacher, oxtx 
profit will depend, not so much on what we receive, as 
what we bring. In the depths of our being there are 
voices waiting to be uttered, prophesies longing to be 
fulfilled, wants craving to be satisfied ; and effective 
oratory moves us because it kindles all those trains 
of thought and feeling which slumbered in our own 
bosoms. The noblest effect of human speech is impos- 
sible unless the relations of the speaker and the audience 
be reciprocal, unless eloquent words find a response in 
eloquent hearts. A speaker captivates us because he 
interprets us to ourselves ; not because he advances any- 
thing new, but because he unfolds truths which had 
long been hidden within us. We wanted faith in these 
truths and faith in our power to assert them; he makes 
them palpable to ourselves; his words find an echo in 
our own consciousness; we become identified with him; 
we feel as if his resistless arguments, his burning accents 
were our own, and we share the delights and triumphs of 
his eloquence. And, now, all this applies to the Gospel. 
Its truths revealed to us by the Spirit of God find a 
witness in our own spirits, even where they are not 
savingly received. " The word of faith which is 
preached is nigh us, even in our mouths and in our 
hearts." 

Take for example, the soul, its worth and glory. In 
the teachings of Jesus nothing is more prominent than 
the existence of this spiritual imperishable principle in 
ii 14 



320 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

man ; and upon this subject his words find their attesta- 
tion in every bosom. We said, in a former part of this 
discourse, that the soul and its immortality are original 
truths inscribed upon the very constitution of our 
nature ; and Jesus deals with them as such. He does 
not reason the matter, but appeals at once to the inner 
oracle, the responses of which come forth clearly at his 
bidding, and compel man to recognize his dignity and 
destiny. This inward light is more conclusive than any 
evidence of the senses as to outward objects, and it so 
authenticates the Saviour's doctrine as to put upon 
them the seal and stamp of infallibility. 

It is just so, too, with regard to human guilt and 
responsibility. Jesus was the first teacher who pro- 
claimed the divine estimate of sin. He alone could 
adequately comprehend this tremendous evil ; for he un- 
derstood its malignity in itself, as contrasted with the 
holiness of God; he knew the ravages it had wrought 
even in heaven ; and he saw its terrible consequences in 
the blackness of darkness, the weeping and wailing of 
devils and damned spirits. Man's guilt and exposure to. 
wrath are however truths which have their testimony 
in our own consciences. We may refine and dispute 
about the origin and nature of sin; but one fact sur- 
vives and comes intact out of all our cavils and contro- 
versies; this fact is that " we have all sinned." We may 
presume to reject the doctrine of human depravity ; but 
scarcely does the denial escape our lips, before we seek to 
retract it lest it should reach the ear of God. We carry 
the melancholy consciousness in our breasts. There 
linger in the soul mysterious memories of what it once 
was ; but they are memories of things long past, vestiges 
left by a terrible calamity which laid the soul in ruins. 

This same harmony between the Scriptures and our 
own feelings we find with reference to God's alienation 
from man, and man's alienation from God. Multiplied 
as are the mercies hourly received from his hands, 
humanity everywhere confesses that sin has caused God 
to withdraw himself from it. Man is never found with- 
out a religion ; and every religion has repeated those 
earnest imploring cries, " Wherewith shsUl I come before 



"Lord, to whom shall toe go ?" 321 

the Lord, and bow myself before the High God?" 
"Oh, that there were some daysman between us!" — 
Every religion known upon earth has been an attempt 
to appease an offended Deity. And while thus seeking 
to propitiate God, man has been conscious that he is 
himself unwilling to be reconciled to God. Conscience 
says to him, " Your iniquities have separated between 
you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face 
from you;" but he will not give up his sins. And, thus, 
he presents that phenomenon which the Bible portrays 
as something so monstrous and horrible. He feels a 
mysterious attraction drawing him to his Father ; and 
yet hates that Father and shuns him. 

And I might with equal confidence affirm that, wher- 
ever salvation by the Cross is proclaimed, the preacher 
may say, "By manifestation of the truth, we commend 
ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." 
There is such a wonderful correspondence between the 
disease and remedy, that — even where the truth is not 
savingly welcomed, reason confesses it is precisely adapted 
to all the felt emergencies of our mournfnl and helpless 
condition. 

I was right then in asserting that the religion of 
Jesus has for every mind a self-evidencing power. The 
Gospel is its own witness, not only because its truths 
are transcendently above the human intellect, but be- 
cause they find their verification deep in the human 
heart and conscience. As I have said, however, the ex- 
ulting confidence with which Peter casts his soul upon 
this great propitiation and rests there for pardon and 
eternal life, is something more than any general con- 
viction of the necessity of salvation through Jesus 
Christ. It is faith, saving faith ; an assurance undoubt- 
ing and absolute wrought by the Holy Spirit who 
relieves the awful mystery in which we are enveloped by 
revealing the Cross in us, and thus brings the renewed 
soul, amidst its conscious weakness and vileness, without 
one fear or doubt, with a recumbency ineffably delight- 
ful, to repose all its immortal hopes and interests upon 
Him who never will, never can disappoint its trust. 



322 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

M Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of 
eternal life, and we believe and are sure, that thou art 
that Christ, the Son of the living God," — this is the 
language not only of a mind which is enlightened, but 
of a heart which loves. " He that believe th on the Son 
of God, hath the witness in himself;" — his confidence 
springs from experience. He can say, " I know whom I 
have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep 
that which I have committed to him against that day." 
There has been a real, personal negotiation between him 
and his Saviour. Into the hands of no archangel would 
he confide the keeping of his soul ; but he commits it 
with unwavering trust to a Being who promises to take 
good care of the deposit, and tyho will redeem his pledge ; 
— a Being whom he knows, whom he cannot help know- 
ing, for what has he not done for him? what has he not 
done in him ? what is he not to him ? 

" We believe and are sure." This faith, this assurance 
the Christian does possess as to the forgiveness of his 
sins. For with him pardon is not merely a doctrine, it 
is a fact, an inwrought experience. Upon such a point 
nothing less than absolute certainty can, or ought to 
satisfy us. Our everlasting destiny is at stake; and sus- 
pense, always distressing, is intolerable here. Let any- 
thing, and everything else be in jeopardy ; let the title 
by which I hold all my earthly interests be called in 
question ; let cruel doubts be cast over all my dearest 
earthly hopes, over all those tender affections in which 
my heart must live or have no life ; but as to the for- 
giveness of my sins, I must have certainty. And in 
Jesus there is this certainty. " Blessed art thou Simon 
Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto 
thee, but my Father who is in heaven." The joy of 
pardoned sin is shed abroad in the heart, not by any 
deductions of reasoning, but by the voice of God himself; 
— a voice "still and small," but which at once hushes 
all the guilty clamors within, and diffuses unutterable 
peace in the soul. 

Nor is the Christian only pardoned, he is reconciled 
to God; and of this he has the same delightful certainty. 
"The Spirit beareth witness with our spirits that we 



" Lord, to tvhom shall vje go ? " 323 

are the children of God; and if children then heirs; 
heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ." No 
inferences will do as to such a question. Until it feels 
itself in sympathy with God, until the spirit of adop- 
tion cries, " Abba Father," the soul is unblessed and 
cannot be comforted. But it is comforted ; it is conscious 
of a new affection; it has raised its eye to God ; glances 
have been exchanged between them ; the former enmity 
is expelled, and a sweet, endearing union has been 
established. The spiritual sense is as certain that "the 
day has dawned, and the day-star arisen" within, as the 
eye is that the morning discloses itself to our vision. 
" Christ is formed in us the hope of glory." There is 
communion with him, and with the Father and the 
Holy Spirit through him. And all this is a blessed 
reality. '* I believe and am sure ;" " I know, and am 
sure;" such is the language of the child of God. And 
his assurance is an unreasoned experience ; it springs up 
in him as waters break up from the earth. He never 
thinks of proofs, for he has the demonstration in him- 
self. He rejoices in an experimental consciousness 
which admits of no doubt nor questioning. 

I need not multiply details upon this article. When 
Peter made this confession, he spake what he knew, he 
testified what he had " tasted of the good word of life;" 
and I trust his experience is that of many who now 
listen to me. 

Christian, if indeed you are such, if you have passed 
from death unto life, you have received a crucified Saviour, 
you have beheld the Lamb of God w T hich taketh away 
the sin of the world. Taught by God, you have felt how 
wofully deficient you have been from the standard of the 
law, how deeply involved in its curse and condemnation, 
and you have fled to Jesus who alone can give liberty and 
life to the soul. You have escaped from all legal ter- 
rors, by casting your burden upon him who hath deliv- 
ered us from the curse of the law, himself bearing its 
penalty. " Being justified by faith, you have peace with 
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and rejoice in hope 
of the glory of God." And having this hope, you are 
purifying yourself as Christ is pure. Advancing from 



324 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

the spirit of bondage to the spirit of adoption, you have 
passed from a servile to a filial obedience ; and gratitude, 
love, confidence, a sweet assurance, have grown up in 
your bosom. Once you were dead, but now you are alive. 
Once the God of this world blinded your mind, and the 
Gospel was hid from you ; now the light of that glorious 
Gospel shines in your heart, and well may it be called 
" marvellous light," — for it has couched all your blind- 
ness, so that now there is realized in you a whole Gospel, 
while — freed from the law of sin and death — you walk 
in the security of an imputed, and in the cheerful obedi- 
ence of an imparted righteousness; and thus you are not 
only sure of eternal life, but feel that life already begun 
in your soul. 

All this is to you not a speculation, but an experience ; 
not only a religion in the Bible, but a religion in your 
own consciousness. You may be ignorant of the argu- 
ments by which the theologian proves that this interior 
light is not only possible, but most philosophical; nor 
do you care about such arguments ; for you rejoice in 
this spiritual light. You can no more comprehend the 
processes of the Holy Spirit than you can the courses of 
the wind; but you feel his powerful influences. With 
the man born blind, you cannot explain how your eyes 
were opened ; but this one thing you do know, that 
whereas you were blind, now you see. With Lazarus, 
you do not understand the mysterious power by which 
the voice of the Son of God poured life into the dead and 
putrefying fabric ; but with him, you know that the vital 
energy did rouse and renovate you to newness of life. 

Yes, my brethren, let the sceptic and the unregenerate 
ask, "How can these things be ?" To seek to convince 
them is, of course, to talk to a blind man about colors, or 
to a deaf man about music. But the Christian — though 
illiterate and unable to answer the cavils of infidelity, or 
to marshal all the array of evidence behind which as an 
impregnable fortress revealed truth is intrenched— the 
Christian has the certainty of a personal, experimental 
knowledge as to these things. "Hie sufferer relieved of 
pain is not a physician, he cannot explain the hidden 
working of the medicine ; nor need he, in order to know 



" Lord, to whom shall we go ? 225 

that the misery is assuaged. The man about to die of 
thirst cannot explain his thirst, nor as he quaffs the crys- 
tal beverage, can he analyze the element and account for 
the blessed effects ; but he feels the refreshing tides 
which reinvigorate his parched frame. A fatal poison is 
coursing through the veins, consuming life in its sources. 
The antidote reaches the deadly distillment, and arrests 
its venom. Must the man be a chemist, to be conscious 
of the change wrought in his system by the renovating 
elixir ? Suppose some learned philosopher, by logical 
deductions and nice trains of argument, should attempt 
to disabuse each of these men of his sensations, and to 
prove to each that he had never felt pain, and thirst, and 
the fiery bane in his pulses, or that he had never been re- 
lieved and refreshed and restored to health. Just as foolish 
are all the flippancies of cavillers, against the power of 
faith in a soul groaning under its guilt, and rejoicing in 
the experience of freedom, peace, eternal life. The be- 
liever in Jesus has the witness in himself; his credentials 
are independent of, and quite superior to all casuistry; 
he is conscious of a change which no power but that of 
God could have wrought. And this transformation was 
wrought by Jesus, by him who has the words of eternal 
life, whose is the gift of eternal life, who delivers the 
soal from death, breathes into it his own resurrection 
life, and crowns it with hopes full of immortality, with 
joys unspeakable and full of glory. 

In conclusion, let me ask each of you, with individual 
reference, have you eternal life ? Eecollect, this is a 
matter within your own consciousness; for if you have 
not life in Christ now, you can have no life with Christ 
hereafter. " He that believeth in the Son of God hath 
the witness in himself." Have you this witness in your- 
self? And by this I mean, not frames and meltings, but 
a solid reality of feeling. Have your crimson stains been 
made white in the blood of the Lamb ? Have you the 
confidence that you are Christ's, and Christ is yours for- 
ever, because you love him, and are therefore loved by 
him ? Until you possess this assurance, it would be ut- 
ter infatuation in you to be satisfied. Until Christ is 
formed in you the hope of glory, the Gospel has not 



326 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

accomplished its sublime mission to you. This glorious 
consummation in the soul is the object of all our preach- 
ing. " This is the record, that God has given to us eter- 
nal life, and this life is in his Son." "As Moses lifted 
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son 
of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so 
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life." "My sheep hear my voice, and I 
know them, and they follow me; and I give unto them 
eternal life, and they shall never perish." Have you thus 
followed Jesus and received the earnests of everlasting 
blessedness from him? "He that hath the Son, hath 
life;" have you received the Son, and, with him, this 
glorious endowment ? Each of us is either obeying the 
attractions of the Cross and casting anchor above, or yield- 
ing to the attractions of sin and sinking down to eternal 
death. 

How is it with you ? Are you seeking eternal life — 
this highest good to which we can aspire ? How are you 
seeking it ? By your own works, or by faith in Jesus ? 
If by the law of works, you will perish. In other wrecks 
we may, out of the ruin itself, get some planks for a raft ; 
but man is "lost," — life, heaven, hope, all are lost. — 
There is nothing left us except to cast ourselves upon 
him who came " to seek and to save that which is lost." 
" Eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our 
Lord." 

My impenitent hearers, can you calmly contemplate 
the prospect before you ? "He that believeth not the 
Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on 
him." Does not the bare thought of such a doom fill 
you with consternation? The very purpose for which 
you have been reprieved so long is, that you may secure 
this celestial blessing. How many means, too, has God 
employed to persuade you to choose life and not death. 
"1 will hedge up thy way with thorns;" has he 
not shut up, one after another, the paths in which 
you were pressing to destruction, casting up barrier after 
barrier, leaving open the narrow way of life, and throw- 



u Lord, to whom shall ive go ? h 327 

ing about you the cords of his providence and grace to 
constrain you to enter there. Above all, his amazing 
love in that interposition by which such a boon may be 
yours. "In this was manifested the love of God toward 
us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the 
w r oiid that we might live through him." Can it be that 
such love and mercy shall fail to move and draw you to 
Jesus ? 

Christians, my beloved brethren, if this unspeakable 
gift were oftener the subject of our meditations, other 
things would sink into their proper insignificance; we 
would ascend high above the passions which so often de- 
base the souls of those who profess to be Christ's. Peter's 
assertion of loyalty and devotion was in answer to a very 
touching question. " From that time many of his dis- 
ciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then 
said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away ? Then 
Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? 
thou hast the words of eternal life." Our apostle was 
grieved, his whole soul recoiled at the very suggestion of 
forsaking his Redeemer. And I trust we share his pain 
and horror. Go back ; — back from eternal life, back to 
eternal death! Walk no more with him; — with him, to 
walk with whom in faith and love is my highest life now; 
to walk with whom "in white" will be my noblest priv- 
ilege in eternity. Go away. "Will ye also go away ?" 
"Lord to whom shall we go?" To whom, when, baffled 
in heart and hope, we feel the vanity, emptiness, noth- 
ingness of all terrestrial objects ? To whom, when cares 
and troubles break'like a deluge over our heads? To 
whom, when, stung by disappointment and adversity, 
we experience the hollowness of mortal friendships and 
confidences ? To whom, when plucked and bruised by 
affliction, our eyes are laden with tears and our spirits 
burdened with anguish ? To whom, when our weakness 
is overborne by the tempter's power, and a sense of 
our guilt and corruption bows us to the dust and fills us 
with dismay? To whom, when cast down by gloom? 
when wasted by sickness? when life is ebbing away, and 
the earth receding from our vision ? Then, then, where 
can we turn ? whither can we fly ? what can reason, 



828 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

philosophy, the whole world, the angels in heaven, do for 
us then? No, Redeemer of our souls, thou hast the 
words of eternal life ; thou art eternal life and blessed- 
ness; thou art our only hope, portion, delight; and to 
thee we will cleave with ever deepening devotion, though 
the whole world, though a thousand worlds should tempt 
us to leave thee. 

Eternal Life! My dearly beloved brethren, again 
and again ponder those words. What is the material 
universe compared with such a blessing ? For my part, 
when I can escape the deadening influence of the world, 
and reflect upon the sublimity of this truth, my mind 
sinks under its weight, is dazzled by its brightness. Per- 
fect knowledge, purity, love, happiness; and all this ev- 
erlasting. A single doubt as to the perpetuity of this 
bliss would throw a pall over haaven itself; but no such 
fear shall disturb our glorified spirits. Those crowns 
can never wither ; those harps can never be broken ; the 
friendships formed with angels and saints in light will 
never be interrupted; the delicious intimacies with Je- 
sus, the beatific visions of the Father shall forever fill 
our souls with unutterable felicity. I repeat it, when I 
feel my meanness and vileness, all this seems too much 
for man. But when I turn to the Cross, I feel that no- 
thing is too much for man. I rejoice in the certainty of 
immortal life and glory for those who are Christ's. ." He 
that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for 
us all, how shall he not with him, also freely give us all 
things ?" 

My friends, Jesus offers this life to each of us. He 
says, "I am come that they might have life and that they 
might have it more abundantly." But remember, it is 
offered, and with you it rests to choose or reject it. " Ye 
will not come unto me that ye might have life," — such is 
the Saviour's complaint as to too many of you. If you do 
not come to Jesus, if you are not united to him now by 
faith, love, harmony of spirit and purpose, you have no 
life in you, you can never enter heaven ; or, if borne there, 
you could no more participate in its joys, than a corpse 
carried into a palace can regale itself with the illumina- 
tion, the banquet, the ravishing strains of music, and 



11 Lord, to whom shall toe go ? " 329 

all the splendors of princely festival. Enter into these 
truths. When his neighbors, friends, family all came 
out of the City of Destruction, entreating Bunyan's Pil- 
grim to return, he " put his ringers in his ears and ran, 
crying, Life, Life, Eternal Life !" Let us imitate him. 
Let us prize above all price a good which turns into con- 
tempt everything the earth can offer. It is placed by 
God within your reach ; count all things but dross and 
filth that you may win it. 

God grant that these thoughts may affect, constrain, 
compel us all. "0 man of God, fight the good fight of 
faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also 
called." With this object before our aspirations, may we 
spurn every solicitation which seeks to seduce us from 
Jesus. When tempted to be faithless to him, his truth, 
his cause; and when others are forsaking him ; then may 
we see those eyes which sought Peter turning upon us ; 
then may we hear that voice which pierced the heart of 
Peter appealing to us, saying, " Will ye also go away ?"■ 
And then may our inmost souls — abhorring the thought 
of such perfidy — stung, wounded by the very question — 
with the tender resentments of a love and truth which 
cannot bear to be suspected — then may our inmost souls 
reply, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the 
words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that 
thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." 



330 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



^rvmou iSlflftteftUft. 



A PRECIOUS SAVIOUR. 



"To you that believe he is precious."— I Peter ii : 7. 

WE this day commemorate the sufferings of the Ee- 
deemer. All the services of this Sabbath say to us, 
" Behold the Man !" And what occurred when Pilate 
uttered that remarkable exclamation is virtually repeated 
now. 

You recollect that, after having pleaded in vain for 
Jesus, the Roman governor retired from the judgment 
hall and delivered him to the soldiers, who "plaited a 
crown of thorns and put it on his head, and put on him 
a purple robe, and said, Hail King of the Jews, and smote 
him with the palms of their hands." After this, Pilate 
again returned to the hall where the people were waiting, 
and with him came Jesus arrayed in the insignia of bar- 
barous mockery, his face stained with blood, but filled 
with heavenly calmness and majesty. 

When we remember his life of unwearied benevolence, 
it seems impossible that the hearts of the multitude 
should not be moved with sympathy, that they should not 
seek to interpose and deliver him. But they cried out, 
"Away with him, Crucify him," and demanded that a 
vile malefactor should be discharged, saying, "Not this 
man, but Barabbas." Among them, however, were some 
who viewed the spectacle with amazement and horror; 
whose hearts melted and whose eyes streamed with tears ; 
some who followed him weeping and lamenting, even to 
the last scene of the dismal tragedy. 



A Precious Saviour. 331 

And all this is virtually renewed to-day and in this 
sanctuary. How often, how earnestly have w^e pleaded 
with many of you for this adorable sufferer, but pleaded 
in vain. Even now — when he not only stands before 
you bruised for your sins, wearing those cruel ornaments, 
smitten and afflicted — but when he is " evidently set 
forth crucified among you," he finds no love and sympa- 
thy in your bosoms. It is nothing to you that there 
never was sorrow like to his sorrow; and your pride, 
your lusts, some wretched passion which robs you of your 
souls is preferred before him. Until Jesus is seen by 
faith, men discern in him " no form nor comeliness ;" 
he is despised and rejected, hated for his holiness, and 
his claims repelled in hardness and contumely. 

But when it " pleases God to reveal his Son in us," 
when- the Holy Spirit " takes of his and shews it unto 
us," what a change. He is then, indeed, " the chiefest 
among ten thousand, and altogether lovely." Yes, if a 
blind world derides him and crucifies him afresh, there 
are those to whom he is fairer than the sons of men, and 
unspeakably precious. If to glory in the cross we have 
to be crucified to the world, there are those who welcome 
the cross as infinitely dearer to them than all the wealth 
and glory of ten thousand worlds. And it is to these 
the language of our. text is addressed. 

I. There is one class, and only one, to whom Jesus is 
precious; and who are these? "You that believe." — 
Every day you are asking us how you may know whether 
you have saving faith. Well, behold the criterion. You 
need not go up into heaven for raptures and ecstasies. 
You need not descend into hell for convictions and ter- 
rors. The answer is in your own consciousness. Is Jesus 
precious to you ? 

Is honey sweet to your taste ? Is light pleasant to your 
eyes ? Your wealth, your children, are these dear to your 
heart? You can at once solve these problems ; and you 
can as instantly decide whether Jesus has a place in your 
affections. If you believe, he is precious to you. And 
the converse is equally certain. If he is not precious 
to you, you do not believe. Through the influence of 



332 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 



education, or association, men may grow up with much 
respect for the Bible and the name of Jesus, but they 
have no real appreciation of him until their hearts are 
changed, until they apprehend him by faith. To you 
"that believe" he is precious. 

Now, as to the exercise which the Scriptures call 
" faith," I remark that it is not an abstract, speculative 
assent to the truths of the Gospel, but a full, cordial, con- 
trolling persuasion of all the Bible reveals with reference 
to our sins and to Jesus as the Saviour from sin. It is a 
clear, realizing, delightful view of the things thus dis- 
closed; a hearty committing our souls, with all their in- 
terests, into his hands. Faith is the act not only of the 
understanding, but of the heaft; an act by which Christ 
is received as God's first, chief gift, and everything is re- 
nounced which stands in competition with him. Ke- 
ceiving Christ is synonymous with believing in him. — 
" To as many as received him, to them gave he power to 
become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his 
name." This faith Peter styles "precious faith," because 
it reveals a precious Eedeemer. And he declares that it 
is " much more precious than gold," because in appro- 
priating the Saviour, it enriches us with unsearchable 
treasures of grace and glory. 

The term in our text which is translated " precious " 
denotes the highest esteem ; it is in this sense equivalent 
to the words elsewhere rendered "glorying in the cross;" 
and faith alone thus honors and exalts the Eedeemer ; 
for faith alone has eyes to take in his glories, and to ap- 
preciate his surpassing dignity. Men may pronounce no- 
ble eulogiums upon his virtues and doctrines, his godlike 
life and death; but until "God who commanded the 
light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into our hearts, 
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God 
in the face of Jesus Christ," all is dark as to any realiz- 
ing sense of his divine majesty. The glory of his person 
and the glory of his cross are " things of the Spirit of 
God," which " the natural man receiveth not," neither 
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 

But the text imports more than reverence; the adjec- 
tive here is a term of endearment, and in this import the 



A Precious Saviour. 333 



expression is full of beauty. All very deep feelings defy 
language. As soon as we attempt to utter them, we be- 
come abrupt and incoherent. And of this we have a 
striking illustration in the passage before us. Literally 
it reads thus, "To you who believe — preciousness." No 
one is designated. The apostle simply says, If you be- 
lieve there is one object unspeakably dear to you, and 
you know instinctively who that object is; and, as God 
is not only lovely, but love itself, so this adorable Being 
is to you not only precious, but the essential, infinite 
preciousness itself. 

Truly is the light of faith called "marvellous light;" 
for it gives sight to the blind. A blind man may turn 
his seared eyeballs forever to the orb of day, he can see 
nothing; but, revealed by the Spirit, the Son of Kight- 
eousness sheds healing upon the blurred vision of the 
soul, and pours celestial radiance into the darkened mind. 
As when we behold a natural object, its image is pen- 
cilled upon the retina of the eye, so, when seen through 
the medium of faith, "Jesus is formed in us." And 
when be is thus seen and known, love for him at once 
becomes the ruling sentiment. It is the very attribute of 
such a passion, that it concentrates all the thoughts and 
affections upon a single object. The miser, the vindic- 
tive, man, the voluptuary, each regards everything in the 
light of a single absorbing hist. And to the believer 
"Christ is all and in all." He "is all ;" — all his trust, 
all his resource, all his salvation. And he is "in all ;" — 
in prayer, all his plea ; in duties, all his energy; in pov- 
erty, his wealth ; in affliction, his comfort; in sickness, 
his health; in his anticipations of heaven, the Being 
whose presence will forever fill the golden atmosphere 
with songs of rapture, and without whom those bright 
abodes would be only a scene of sadness and irksome 
magnificence. 

To those who believe he is precious. They alone feel 
their guilt and corruption, the absolute necessity of a 
great atonement and the infusion of a holy nature by 
this Saviour. And they are conscious of something 
more. Even after pardon and the transfusion of a new 
principle of spiritual life, the Christian has to mourn 



334 Richard Fuller's ISermons. 

over daily imperfections ; and, at times, sin — though it 
cannot have dominion — breaks out with such alarming 
mutiny that he is kept low and abhors himself before 
God. He feels, therefore, the necessity of a righteousness 
not only imparted, but imputed; — a righteousness other 
than his own, if he is to stand perfect before inflexible 
Justice. Others are blinded, but he sees clearly that 
God must love us, or we are forever lost; that if God 
loves us, he must love our persons, not our characters; 
and that, therefore, he must love us in Christ, clothed 
in his righteousness. And this view fills the heart with 
peace, gratitude, assurance, as the believer exclaims, "I 
am found in him, not having mine own righteousness 
which is by the law, but that which is through the faith 
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." 

Believers alone behold the glory of Christ, "the glory 
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and 
truth." "Faith is the substance of things hoped for;" 
and Christ is the crowning glory of all the glorious hopes 
of the Gospel. And faith receives him not as an ideal, 
but a real Christ; not Christ in history, but Christ in 
the soul, reigning there in ineffable majesty and love. — 
In short, it is only to believers that Jesus is so experi- 
mentally known that they can say, "Whom having not 
seen we love, in whom, though we see him not, yet -be- 
lieving we rejoice, with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 
They and only they experience the efficacy of his blood, 
calming the wounded spirit. They, and only they have 
heard his voice hushing the cries of a guilty conscience. 
They have felt his attractions, tasted his grace, rejoiced 
in his love. At what time their hearts were over- 
whelmed within them, they were led to the Rock higher 
than they; higher than all their sins and fears. Afflicted 
and tossed with storms, they have leaned upon him; and 
heavenly peace has breathed into their souls. Fainting 
under the heat and burden of the day, they have sat down 
under his shadow with great delight. He has been and 
is to them, as "a hiding place from the wind, and a cov- 
ert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a drv place, 
as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. They 
hold sweet communion with him, And, gathering intp 



A Precious Saviour. 335 

one aggregate all earthly charms, they can trample them 
under foot, and exclaim, Whom have we in heaven but 
thee ? and there is none upon earth that we desire besides 
thee. 

II. "To you that believe he is precious." Having 
seen to whom Jesus is thus dear, let us now pass to our 
remaining, our principal topic, and enquire, why, in what 
aspects, for what qualities, he is thus precious. Does a 
blind world ask, "What is thy beloved more than another 
beloved ?" how many answers at once rise up in the 
Christian's bosom, so that he knows not where to begin, 
and sees not where he can end ! 

In the first place, Jesus is precious to those who believe 
because, lost and ruined as we are, he is the great ador- 
able deliverer. The original grandeur of humanity is 
seen in its ruins. Such a moral wreck,' so vast and stu- 
pendous, could have befallen none but a most noble being. 
We discover everywhere, above and beneath the earth, 
convincing proofs of some overwhelming physical con- 
vulsion ; and we find in human nature evidences quite as 
conclusive of some far off but tremendous spiritual catas- 
trophe. It is idle to speculate about the entrance of sin 
into the world and the existence of depravity. The fact 
is before us; it is a matter of consciousness ; and all the 
philosophizing in the world leaves the theological diffi- 
culties just where it found them. W r hen I read that 
"By one man sin entered into the tvorld, and death by 
sin" I accept the statement — just as the inspired apostle 
received it — as a matter of pure revelation. I perceive 
clearly that this doctrine explains much in the present 
economy, which otherwise would be oppressively painful 
and utterly irreconcilable with the benevolence of God, 
— (the sufferings and death of infants, for example) — bat 
the doctrine itself I cannot explain. I feel and confess 
its mysteriousness; but when it comes to me upon " the 
testimony of God," my faith at once believes it. 

The Scriptures derive the human family from a com- 
mon parentage ; and we acquiesce in this account of the 
creation, although science is entirely baffled in all at- 
tempts to detect the causes which have produced such 
ii 15 



336 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

national diversities of color and character. Suppose that 
in your garden there were a tree bearing delicious fruit, 
and diffusing balmy perfumes. Suppose some pestilential 
sirocco were to sweep over this tree, and so poison all its 
sap that its fruit should become bitter and its odors most 
offensive. Suppose that this deterioration should be clear- 
ly proved by your own senses. You would not hesitate 
to believe the fact, though the hidden process by which 
this blight had been infused might be utterly inexplica- 
ble to you. Well, now, the testimony of God is surely 
more conclusive than the evidence of our senses ; and he 
declares that " By one man sin entered into the world." 
The first man came pure and righteous from the hands 
of his Maker ; but he yielded to temptation ; and trans- 
gression was not only a crime but a crisis, changing not 
only his condition but his nature. And, as like begets 
like, this taint descends to his posterity. 

Such is the simple announcement, and I receive it 
upon God's authority. I cannot explain it; but no 
honest man can deny the depravity thus affirmed. That 
the moral degeneracy adheres to our common humanity, 
is a truth whose demonstration meets us on every side. — 
When it is found that "all flesh hath corrupted his way 
on the earth;" when, amidst the perplexity and confusion 
of scholastic discussions, the fact that " all have sinned." 
still survives and defies the ingenuity of logic; when, in 
every age and in every nation, every human being is found 
living in disorder and violating God's law; when, no 
matter what may be the differences in hue, or civilization, 
or manners, every child of Adam carries the virus of cor- 
ruption in his nature; — why, the argument is forever 
settled. This dismal phenomenon proclaims the deterior- 
ation of the whole race. Sin is not an accident ; it can- 
not be ascribed to any individual perversity, nor to edu- 
cation, nor to the air we breathe, nor the food we eat; it 
infects humanity. The fountain may be inaccessible; 
but we know by the streams issuing from it, whether it 
is sweet or bitter. So we cannot penetrate the human 
heart; but we know what is there when we see what 
"proceeds out of it." 



A Precious Saviour. 337 



If, however, the doctrine of original sin be true; if, 
without ever having been consulted, man thus inherits a 
fallen nature, can he be held responsible for his conduct? 
Here is another intricacy into which vain reasoning 
seeks to involve us ; but out of which our own unerring 
moral instincts easily rescue us. For, if in our conscious- 
ness the truth remains intact, that we are under captivi- 
ty to evil dispositions, there is there also this other truth, 
equally invincible, that for indulging these dispositions 
we are guilty before God. To bring the matter home to 
your moral judgment, let me ask you a question. Sup- 
pose a fellow being commits murder, suppose he murders 
one who is dear to you, and suppose he pleads as an ex- 
cuse that he only obeyed the propensity of his heart, 
would you hold him innocent? Would not his very plea 
fill you with abhorrence, and draw upon him the execra- 
tion of mankind ? A necessity which forces a man against 
his will acquits him, of course, of all guilt; but if one 
yields freely to his corrupt inclinations, no sophistry can 
intercept the sentence we instinctively pronounce, and 
which he pronounces irresistibly against himself. As to 
the ulterior question of the influence which originated 
the will, philosophy may amuse itself with subtile ques- 
tions; but such abstruse speculations avail nothing. In 
the philosopher, as in the peasant, conscience will enter- 
tain no such abstractions. Let an evil act be perpetrated 
from an evil intention, and the verdict we pas3 upon 
others, and the feeling of guilt and responsibility in our 
own bosoms, follow inevitably and by necessity. 

You complain, my friend, that a depraved nature 
cleaves to you. Now, are you sincere ? If so, then this 
moral malady is a grief and a burden under which yon 
groan, and from which you earnestly long to be delivered. 
Well, do you really feel thus ? ]S~o. You love these de- 
praved propensities; yon take pleasure in indulging these 
passions; you would not wish to he without those con- 
stitutional impulses whose gratification is so agreeable ; 
you reject the remedy which is freely proffered ; — how 
unjust, then, are the charges you prefer against God. 

The fact is that, until convinced of sin by the Spirit, a 
man has no conception of its deep-seated infection. He 



338 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

regards it as an accidental outbreak, a violence to his 
better nature ; and, one day, by strenuous resolutions he 
means to conquer it. But let him be brought to realize 
the fearful truth that, ingrained in his very constitution 
there is an inveterate corruption which pervades all the 
recesses of his being, baffling all human power, and with 
what imploring energy will he utter that wail, "Oh, 
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the 
body of this death ?" And when the grace of God that 
bringeth salvation is disclosed to him, with what surprise 
and delight does he exclaim, " I thank God through Je- 
sus Christ our Lord." Instead of complaining that God 
holds him guilty for a depraved heart, he himself sees 
this to be the desperate thing in his condition, that his 
very nature, his very will are corrupt. Reflecting intent- 
ly upon the malignity of sin ; perceiving clearly that, if 
there be truth in God, he must punish it ; he is lost in 
wonder and gratitude while he accepts a pardon which 
forever cancels his sin, and yet forever records God's 
righteous judgment upon that sin. Instead of impeach- 
ing God for having allowed corruption to be entailed up- 
on him, he admires the wisdom and love which tell him 
that he must be " born again of the Spirit," and provide 
for a renovation as radical as the disease. And as from 
a knowledge of deliverance he comes to behold the de- 
liverer, and to comprehend that from all this hopeless- 
ness and terror he is saved through the sore agony of the 
only begotten Son of the Father, — his whole soul is at 
once captivated, the contemplation of such mercy sweeps 
the mind alternately with love, rapture and adoration. 

How precious, now, is Jesus, and salvation through 
Jesus ! Yes, my own experience tells me that I have in- 
herited depraved propensities ; my moral sense convicts 
me of guilt for complying with these propensities ; but 
what then ? Receiving the Gospel, I rejoice that all this 
is true. Referring to the death of Lazarus, and knowing 
that his resurrection would awaken a nobler joy than 
could have been felt had he. not died, Jesus said, "Lazarus 
is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not 
there." And so I am glad that I died in Adam, that I 
might live in Christ. I am glad that a degenerate 



A Precious Saviour. 339 

ruined nature has been entailed upon me, since it is only 
by this inheritance that I became interested in the blood 
and righteousness of the Eedeemer. Had the first Adam 
never apostatized, I could have stood only in my own 
strength, I could at best have enjoyed only the reward of 
a human obedience. Now I am sustained by almighty 
strength, I share the glory of a divine obedience. I am 
glad that by nature I was a child of wrath, that by grace 
I might be a child of God ; and if a child, an heir, an 
heir of God, and joint heir with Jesus Christ. 

To them that believe, Jesus is precious, in the next 
place, because the knowledge of him is transcendently 
glorious, transforming, rejoicing to the soul. The be- 
liever can say, " I count all things but loss, for the ex- 
cellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. 

Here is knowledge which imparts spiritual life to those 
who were dead in sin ; and infuses the love of holiness, 
yea, holiness itself, into their souls, changing them grad- 
ually into the likeness of God. " We all, with open face, 
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed 
into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the 
Spirit of the Lord." As one glimpse of the brazen serpent 
arrested the deadly venom coursing through the blood of 
the poisoned Israelite, and poured health into his veins, 
so one direct look at Jesus will do more to purify the 
soul than the knowledge of all truths and mysteries, 
than all prayer, vigilance, fasting, than the most faithful 
use of all the means of grace. If we have "escaped the 
pollutions of the world," it has been "through the know- 
ledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." And if 
w r e are to "grow in grace," it must be by growing "in 
the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 
One clear, open view of Jesus! — and all the temptations 
of earth and hell are dispelled as darkness before the 
rising sun. 

Here is knowledge which is truly humbling. The 
Christian loves to lie low in the dust, forgetting himself, 
losing all thought of his own interests, swallowed up in 
the delightful contemplation of God's happiness and 
glory; and it is as he looks upon the face of Jesus, that 
he is thus humbled under the consciousness of his own 



340 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

vileness, and of the free distinguishing mercy he has ob- 
tained. All the fires and thunders of Sinai, all the ter- 
rors of hell have no power to abase the soul in real self- 
abhorrence. It is in view of a crucified Redeemer, that 
all self-conceit, all concern about human distinctions, 
and even all spiritual pride — that most insidious and de- 
testable form of vanity — die out within us. And, as I 
said, this self-annihilation, as we gaze upon him whose 
sovereign grace has chosen, pardoned, justified, sanctified, 
and saved us, tills the believer with silent but ineffable 
joy. Never did Job know such humility and such peace 
as when he exclaimed, " I have heard of thee by the hear- 
ing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee ; wherefore I 
abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." The storm, 
earthquake, fire left Elijah still haughty and querulous, 
in unrest and mutiny. It was when the "still, small 
voice" (the emblem of incarnate Gentleness and Love) fell 
upon his ear, that his spirit was hushed in adoration, and 
he wrapped his blushing but serene face in his mantle. — 
In a word, the redeemed in glory know nothing sweeter 
than the bliss which satiates all their souls, as they gaze 
upon the Lamb, and cast their crowns before the throne, 
saying, " Thou art worthy, Lord, to receive glory and 
honor and power," and then cast themselves down and 
wonder, love and worship. 

While thus humbling, the knowledge of Jesus is of all 
things the most exalting. Other " knowledge puffeth 
up." There is no such vain elation, as we stand before 
the amazing majesty and glory of the Cross; but there is 
a conscious holy elevation of the soul, so that all earthly 
honor is felt to be poor and contemptible. The believer 
is " lifted up" with Jesus. He " glories " in him. He 
exclaims, u God who is rich in mercy, for his great love 
wherewith he hath loved us, even when we were dead in 
sin, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace 
ye are saved,) and hath raised us up together, and made 
us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." — 
All his aspirations are sublimed. He exults in life and 
immortality, not only anticipated but realized. He tri- 
umphs as in his own experience he comprehends some- 
thing of the meaning of thoee words, " The glory which 
thou gavest me, I have given them." 



A Precious Saviour. 341 

In short, this knowledge frees not only from punish- 
ment but from guilt. It sheds perfect tranquillity into 
the conscience. It communicates a happiness substan- 
tial and satisfying. Under its blessed influence faith and 
hope bloom and ripen into full assurance. At first these 
graces were too dependent upon feeling; and they were 
therefore, w 7 eak and inconstant. As we " know him and 
the power of his resurrection," confidence increases with 
light; faith looks upon divine justice with an eye as 
steady as it does upon mercy; hope smiles at storms and 
billows as it feels its anchorage upon the Eock of Ages; 
the believer has, can have no more doubt than if he were 
already in heaven. Though conscious of his nn worthi- 
ness, he is not afraid to exclaim, " Who shall lay anything 
to the charge of God's elect? it is God that justifieth; 
who is he that condemneth? it is Christ that died, jea, 
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand 
of God, who also maketh intercession for us ;" he rejoices 
" w r ith joy unspeakable and full of glory;" he not only is 
certain that nothing can separate him from the love of 
God which is in Christ Jesus his Lord, but he tastes the 
earnest of the purchased possession ; he not only knows 
that he shall hereafter come, but now, in sympathy, in 
communion, he is already " come unto Mount Sion, and 
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, 
and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general 
assembly and church of the first-born, which are written 
in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits 
of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of 
the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling which 
speaketh better things than the blood of Abel." 

To those who believe Jesus is precious because he is 
"Emmanuel, God with us," "God manifest in the flesh," 
— and so manifested, in a form so wonderful, tender, win- 
ning, that the heart gives way, and loves, admires, adores. 

As his death drew near, Dr. Griffin remarked, "Latter- 
ly I have been specially praying for faith in Christ. I 
see that I have too much confined my thoughts to God, 
and that I ought to go directly to the Saviour's arms, 
and that I ought to believe, abominable as my sins have 
been, if they have once been pardoned, they form no par- 



342 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

tition between me and the heart of Christ." When Philip 
exclaimed, " Lord, shew us the Father and it sufficeth us," 
Jesus said unto him, "Have I been so long time with 
you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that 
hath seen me hath seen the Father." My brethren, this 
prayer of Philip is really the earnest imploring cry which 
the soul incessantly utters; it cries out for God, for the 
living God. The whole universe is too poor for its 
boundless capacities; and it is only in Jesus that this 
deepest, most essential want can be satisfied. Moses sup- 
plicated God that the same blessing might be vouchsafed 
to him ; " I beseech thee, shew me thy glory;" and you 
remember the answer. " Thou canst not see my face and 
live, but I will make my goodness to pass before thee, 
and I will proclaim the name of the Lord." That name 
was Jesus ; for, " the Lord passed before him and pro- 
claimed the Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious, 
long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and 
trausgression and sin, and that will by no means clear 
the guilty." A God merciful without clearing the guilty ! 

This is the mystery of eternity which is now revealed in 
the Gospel. Here the divine glory shines in its noblest 
effulgence. Its unchastened splendor would wither and 
destroy us. In Jesus its lustre is seen through a trans- 
parency and softened ; but how surpassing the thought 
of man or angel. Justice awfully asserted, and yet the 
transgressor justified — not only acquitted, but accounted 
perfectly righteous. Mercy reaching the vilest and the 
guiltiest; yet so exercised, that hell itself cannot as fear- 
fully proclaim God's abhorrence of sin, and his inflexible 
determination to punish it. Wisdom which not only res- 
cues the divine character from any imputation on account 
of the entrance of sin, but causes that catastrophe to shed 
over it a glory otherwise impossible; for in his substitute 
the sinner now renders to the law an obedience beyond 
the reach of unfallen man or unfallen angel — an obe- 
dience which magnifies the law and makes it honorable. 
Lastly, Love which humbles man in the very dust, yet 
raises him to a higher destiny than he could ever have 
imagined, had he never sinned; to a glory above that of 



A Precious Saviour. 343 

unfallen angels; exalts him to a share in the glory which 
shall forever crown the King of Kings and the Lord of 
Lords. 

I had intended to dwell upon other aspects in which 
Jesns is precious to those who believe, but I have not 
time. I have said enough to illustrate the assertion of 
the apostle, that Jesus is not only precious, but precious- 
ness itself. The riches of Christ are unsearchable riches 
"of grace and glory ;" and if we believe, those riches are 
indefeasibly ours. When it pleased God, said Paul, to 
reveal his Son in me, I conferred no longer with flesh 
and blood, I was crucified to the world, and the whole 
world was crucified to me. And with reason ; for within 
the circle of his thoughts and affections a new Being, 
eclipsing all other objects, then appeared and became the 
centre of resistless charms and glories. 

A Being precious in himself; — his majesty, his con- 
descension, his love, his suitableness to all the soul can 
need for time and eternity investing him with peerless 
attractions. 

A Being precious in his mediatorial offices. A prophet, 
to enlighten our ignorance; a priest, offering himself 
upon the dreadful altar ; a king, subduing the inveterate 
corruptions in the heart and establishing there an em- 
pire which is " righteousness and peace and joy in the 
Holy Ghost;" a friend at court ever living to make inter- 
cession for us; — we cannot contemplate him in these 
characters without feeling that he is inestimably dear. 

A Being precious in all the relations he sustains to 
his people. Do I find earthly friendships hollow ? he is 
"a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Am I 
called bitterly to experience the fickleness of the sincerest 
human affections? he loves "with an everlasting love," 
"having loved his own he loves them even unto the end." 
He loves their persons, and his devotion does not change 
because they sin against him. How vile was the conduct 
of the apostles, but he does not cast them off; he still 
says, " Go tell my brethren, and Peter" — Peter, who denied 
him with an oath. Does my bleeding heart mourn over 
its hidden plagues which mock to scorn all human skill 
and experience? he is the tender unfailing physician. — 



344 Richard Fuller s Sermons. 

Am I surrounded by enemies powerful and malignant ? 
he is the ally who makes me more than conqueror. Am 
I a poor, erring, helpless sheep? "The Lord is my shep- 
herd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in 
green pastures ; he leadeth me beside the still waters; 
he restoreth my soul ; he leadeth me in the paths of 
righteousness for his name's sake." 

Yes, to those that believe, Jesus is precious in all his 
relations to them. And he is precious for all the bless- 
ings secured to them by his sufferings. His tears flowed 
that all tears might be wiped away from our eyes. His 
blood cleanseth us from all sin. Horror seizes us as the 
soldiers scourge and beat that sacred form; but it is 
"by his stripes we are healed." We cover our faces as 
he walks forth dressed in the decorations of a blasphe- 
mous derision; but not all the robes of light could have 
decked him in such royalty as that with which he is in- 
vested by this impious purple ; his celestial diadem pro- 
claimed no majesty like that with which the cruel garland 
upon his head now crowns him ; the reed in his hand is 
the sceptre of a power more imperial than that which 
created material worlds. And this majesty and omnipo- 
tence are all engaged for us. Because he humbled 
himself, he is now exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, 
to bestow blessings which as God (I speak it reverently) 
he could not have conferred, and which are now shed 
down freely and richly upon his people. 

He is precious for the consolation he gives us in as- 
suming our nature and bearing it to heaven. When I 
see the brightness of the Father's glory stooping to earth, 
taking humanity into such mysterious union, and then 
exalting it to the very throne of the celestial glory, I am 
filled with hopes, assurances, anticipations which strug- 
gle in vain for utterance. I would not barter the lightest 
coronet which the humblest of the redeemed shall wear 
for the massiest crown that coruscates upon the brow of 
an archangel. 

I will only add that, precious as Jesus is at all times, 
he is especially precious when all precious earthly things 
become poor and worthless. When the soul is bowed 
down beneath a load cf sin, then he says, "Look unto 



A Precious Saviour. 345 



me and be lightened." When it is plucked and crushed 
by affliction, then he draws nigh and whispers, " I will 
not break the bruised reed." "Let not your heart be 
troubled, neither let it be afraid/' When gloomy fore- 
bodings overwhelm us, how sweet to rest upon his bosom 
who declares that he " will never leave us nor forsake us." 
AVhen pressed by sore temptations, how strengthening to 
fly to him who, having been tempted in all points as we 
are, knows how to succor them that are tempted. In the 
last trying hour, amidst the unavailing tears of friends 
and family, his sympathy can reach and sustain us. And 
he can accompany us into the dark valley, changing its 
glooms into heavenly light and music, filling our pale 
lips with songs of triumph and rapture. 

" To you that believe he is precious.''" Supremely pre- 
cious. "Lovest thou me more than these? Lord thou 
knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee;" — 
that I love thee, with all the infinite powers of my heart, 
that thou art throned over every thought and affection 
of my being. Increasingly precious. Other objects lose 
their charms by familiarity ; but the more we know of 
Jesus, the more do we feel that his name is "Wonderful," 
that in him dwells all fullness of heavenly excellence, of 
adaptation to our wants, of grace, — that "in him dwells 
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Eternally pre- 
cious. AVhen first his loveliness dawned upon our eyes 
it diffused new charms over everything ; the earth, the 
sky, the trees, the flowers, all shone in surpassing beauty. 
AVhen all mortal things shall be fading from our vision, 
his loveliness shall stand disclosed in its immortal lustre. 
And while the ages of eternity roll on, it will still be 
flooding our souls with fresh transports, as, with the 
redeemed in glory, we fall at his feet, saying, " Unto him 
that hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his 
own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto our 
God and the Father, to him be glory and dominion for- 
ever and ever. Amen." 

And now, my brethren, in drawing these thoughts to 
a conclusion, let me ask, what ought to be their practical 
improvement ? 



346 Richard Fuller's Sermons. 

Certainly, if I have had your attention, you have an- 
ticipated one use of these truths; you are prepared instinct- 
ively to obey the exhortation which calls us to be ever 
"looking unto Jesus." We have been speaking of faith. 
"When the apostle uttered that exhortation, he had just 
been illustrating the power of grace by the most splendid 
examples. But after proposing this "cloud" of heroes, 
he bids us fix our gaze, not on the cloud, but on the sun 
to whose radiance the cloud owes all its glory. As he 
celebrates the triumphs of these saints and martyrs, our 
hearts burn within us; yet, says he, these are but men 
like yourselves ; if you would run the race set before you, 
look not to them, but to Jesus. The language means, 
"Look away to Jesus;" and holy beings, through the 
whole universe, repeat that language. 

If you ask the saints in heaven — patriarchs, prophets, 
apostles, who being dead yet speak; if you ask the faith- 
ful upon earth who are winning silent but arduous vic- 
tories; if you ask these, how they triumphed, they all 
point to Jesus. Through him they have conquered; he 
was, and is, and shall forever be the absorbing object of 
their gratitude. If you ask the angels how the Lamb that 
was slain appears in their eyes, they fix their gaze upon 
him in rapt and adoring worship. AVhen from the portals 
of heaven he descended upon his amazing mission, they 
flew down to earth and charmed the night with heavenly 
harmonies. As he moved through scene after scene of 
ever deepening sorrow; they followed him in wonder. — 
"He was seen of angels." Who can tell their emotions 
as they clustered about his cross ? or their delight as they 
escorted him back through the everlasting gates ? or 
the thoughts of adoration and love with which they fall 
before his throne ? "And I beheld and I heard the 
voice of many angels round about the throne, and 
the number of them was ten thousand times ten thou- 
sand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud 
voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive 
power and riches, and strength, and honor, and glory, 
and blessing." The Holy Spirit is the great teacher who 
is to guide us into all truth. If we enquire what is his 
estimate of Jesus, we find that his great ministry, his 



A Precious Saviour. 347 

single office is to exalt and glorify this precious Kedeemer. 
"He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and 
shall shew it unto you." Lastly, in himself, but espe- 
cially in his mediatorial work and character, Jesus is in- 
effably precious to his Father. "Behold my servant 
whom I have chosen, mine elect in whom I delight." — 
Of old, from everlasting, he was the Father's "daily de- 
light;" but he was still more dear to that Father's heart 
in his humiliation and sufferings. " Therefore doth my 
father love me, because I lay down my life that I might 
take it again." Twice, as if the divine complacency 
could not be repressed, a voice from the excellent glory 
exclaimed, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well 
pleased." 

Encompassed by such a cloud of witnesses, let us turn 
away from other objects and be ever looking unto Jesus; 
looking to him with eyes of faith, of love, of ardent de- 
sire ; looking to him directly, fixedly, confidently, joy- 
fully ; looking to him for all we need, and for all that he 
is made of God unto us — for "wisdom, righteousness, 
sanctification and redemption;" looking to him for 
strength during all the conflicts of life; in the last trying 
hour, looking to him for victory, — closing our eyes on the 
whole world, and seeing only him upon whom our rav- 
ished gaze shall forever feast in the realms of light and 
love and blessedness. 

One other fruit of this discourse. If Jesus be precious 
to us, we will try to shew it in our conduct. In this ap- 
plication of the subject, let me come home to each of you 
and ask, " What think you of Christ ?" In your practi- 
cal estimate of things, what place has he ? His name, his 
truth, his cause, his church, his honor, his interests — are 
these dear to you ? Do you feel a deep concern in them ? 
Are they more ioyou than riches, honor, worldly distinc- 
tion, sensual gratification, health, life ? If so, "your be- 
loved is yours and you are his ;" he is precious to you, 
and you are precious to him. Precious in his eyes are 
your life and happiness now. He says, " Since thou wast 
precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable and 1 
have loved thee." Precious in his sight shall be your 
death. And you shall be his in that day when he makes 
up his jewels. 



348 RicJiard Fuller's Sermons. 

That Jesus is not precious to many here, I have only 
too much cause to fear. Alas, that a succession of trifles 
which deceive and defraud the soul, can excite such 
an infinity of passions in the heart, and this adorable 
Saviour awaken not a single emotion. But I trust there 
are those here who have been sympathizing in all I have 
uttered, to whom he is precious, and to them I say, Let 
us prove what he is to us by proving in our conduct 
what we are to him, by keeping his commandments. — 
"Ye are my friends if ye, do whatever I command you ;" 
by "esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than 
all the treasures of Egypt ;" by honoring his sanctuary 
— the place where he promises to commune with us, and 
to which we should repair with the eagerness of those 
who hasten to meet one whom they love; in line, by 
shrinking from no duty and welcoming any sacrifice for 
his sake. 

you who have hitherto neglected this Saviour, but 
who desire to be his, come, he is calling you to his em- 
brace. " To-day if you will hear his voice, harden not 
your hearts." But especially you who love him, if Christ 
truly lives in your hearts by faith, let him live and reign 
in your lives. The question is not one of strength, but 
of faith and love. Surrounded by a world in which " all 
mind their own things, not the things of Jesus Christ," 
let us bind these things to our hearts as a diadem, and 
make them the object of our cares and toils and sacrifices. 
While all about us, even among the professed people of 
God, selfishness is the supreme law, let us look upon the 
precious Lamb of God, until this vile passion dies within 
us, until his beauty has tarnished all other charms, has 
captivated all our hearts, and brought our entire being 
under the warm vital power of a love which shall con- 
strain us to live not for ourselves, but for him who died 
for us and rose again. 

May God grant us these blessings. May he so reveal 
his Son in us, that he may indeed be to our souls " the 
chiefest among ten thousand and altogether lovely." 
for less of an abstract, controversial Christianity, and 
more of a living, loving, personal Christ. for souls, 
that, like the harp, turn every passing wind into music, 
and all whose resonancy is of a precious Jesus. 



A Precious Saviour. 349 

Precious Jesus ! who dwelling in ineffable glory didst 
for me stoop to take my nature in its meanest and most 
mournful conditions. Precious Jesus ! who for me didst 
welcome a life of poverty and shame, becoming a home- 
less, houseless man, with men's faces hidden from thee. 
Precious Jesus ! who for me didst meekly lie in the gar- 
den, and in cruel anguish, with the blood oozing from 
every pore of thy body, didst plead with the Father in 
strong supplications and tears. Precious Jesus ! who for 
me was led like a lamb to the bar of Pilate, and then to 
Herod ; and for me didst so patiently bear all those scoffs 
and contumelies while they put on thee a robe of derision, 
and smote thee, and spat upon thee, and pressed a crown 
of sharp thorns into thy brow 7 until the blood trickled 
down thy pale face. Precious Jesus ! who for me was 
nailed to the cross as it lay on the ground, yet uttered no 
cry while the cruel spikes were driven into thy tender, 
quivering nerves and fibres. Precious Jesus ! who for me 
— hanging on that cross — endured all the insults and 
agony which earth and hell could inflict upon thee. 
Jesus, all this, and all this for me ; — let all this make 
thee preciousness itself to me. Forever, Saviour, I am 
thine. Take my heart ; thy love hath conquered it. — 
And when thou hast taken, keep it ; let thy love fix 
every thought, feeling, desire, affection for time and for 
eternity. 



MiuuiiLnilinniiiinis 




